Claire Berlinski’s must-read article in the September issue of Standpoint describes how the overwhelming majority of Turks have no idea what really happened earlier this year aboard the Turkish Mavi Marmara vessel, where an Israeli boarding party enforcing the blockade of Gaza was ambushed in a premeditated attack with knives and iron bars.
She canvassed Istanbul — where she lives — with a Turkish documentary filmmaker and interviewed a number of local people about that now-notorious incident. None knew the Israelis acted in self-defense when they shot their attackers.
“The men and women to whom we spoke,” she wrote, “were astonished when we told them that Israeli officials had invited the ship to disembark at Ashdod and deliver the aid overland. But they were not disbelieving — and importantly, when we told them this, it changed their view. Many spontaneously said that they knew they could not trust what they heard in the news, that the situation confused them and that something about the story just didn’t sound right.”
Unfortunately, few Turks will ever know what really happened that night. The Turkish media reported a grossly distorted version of the events, describing the attackers as “activists” and the Israelis who fought back as murderers. Most Turks can’t read or speak foreign languages and are therefore unable to learn the truth from newspapers abroad.
A new Turkish film may make the big lie all but permanent in the minds of millions of Turkish people. Kurtlar Vadisi Filistin, or Valley of the Wolves: Palestine, is the sequel to the notorious Valley of the Wolves: Iraq, which was released in 2006. The first installment portrays American soldiers massacring civilians at an Iraqi wedding party and harvesting the internal organs of prisoners to sell to Israelis.
The trailer for the second installment begins with an obviously false portrayal of the Mavi Marmara incident, and a later scene shows Israeli soldiers shooting more than a dozen handcuffed prisoners in the back.
The film’s main character is a Turkish special agent who sets out to avenge those killed on the boat by assassinating the Israeli commander in charge at the time, who is cartoonishly outfitted with an eye patch. “Our hero acts for the rights of the oppressed,” says Zübeyr Sasmaz, the director. “We’re talking about things people don’t want to hear,” says Necati Şaşmaz, one of the actors. “Up until now we have seen only Western heroes such as Rambo and James Bond. For the first time in the history of cinema there is an undefeatable protagonist from the Middle East.”
It’s too bad the story is based on a lie.
The first film in this libelous series was the most expensive ever produced in the country, and this one is slated to cost even more. It’s sure to be a big hit. Hopefully, the Turkish documentary filmmaker Clair Berlinski is working with can push back a little, at least.
Seen the sexist Obama campaign commercial yet?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eUz13-pmTY
The press tried to do this in 2004 and almost succeeded. This time around, they will likely succeed. Given how close the polls are, if Obama does win, I think the press can take credit, for, if they had done their jobs, McCain would now be losing in a landslide to Hillary Clinton. That it is so close, is a testament to what a troubling, risky candidate Barack Obama really is.
A question very close to this was asked of both candidates in the first debate. They both dodged it.
2
J. Lichty Says:
“That it is so close, is a testament to what a troubling, risky candidate Barack Obama really is”
Correct but incomplete/The McCain-Palin ticket is so very weak/unfocused.
100 percent accurate post, Jennifer.
I suggest we all bombard Wolf Blitzer with e-mails, as he is to be granted an audience with The One on Friday. Supposedly he’s soliciting video questions from actual Americans.
A little too late for Gregory to be waking from his slumber, wouldn’t you say?
The Palin ad certainly means that McCain’s attacks on Obama’s economic policy is working
“Why can’t these points be put to Barack Obama in a debate or an interview?”
I believe a variant of these two questions was asked at each debate. Obama handled them admirably.
Obviously, the American polity agrees.
#7
Yup. Low information analysts like JR might want to read the transcripts of the debates. Obama was vague the first time the question was asked but got more specific when pressed in subsequent debates and interviews. That said, don’t expect too many specifics. He’s not going to box himself in this far out or give his opponents a target, something he’s already designated as less necessary than the rest of his programs. He’ll see where the economy is as January approaches and determine his priorities accordingly. And if that ticks you wingers off, tough luck. You don’t share our American values, and you don’t have the votes to matter.
Dass wunnerful: drip supports shortboytoo, and their “American values” in trying to rewrite (minor) history!
Now we see why the mainstream media tries to minimize the value of the Internet and bloggers.
It is evident that the MSM has had (and continues to have) a monopoly on the news. They determine what information is shared, what information is withheld and for how long, and in what form and manner.
They further determine what is in bounds and what is out of bounds when it comes to lines of inquiry in interviewing political figures and how responses are framed. The Couric-Palin interview is a classic illustration of that. The Couric “interview” was a pop quiz that was never applied to Sen. Biden nor Sen. Obama. For that matter, Couric would not pop quiz Sen. McCain either because she would end up looking foolish with seasoned national stage figures. But, by point of comparsion, look how foolish Biden looked when asked probative questions of late (still not at the level of pop quiz though).
Right after the “Contract With America” was unveiled in the 1994 campaign, Newt Gingrich went on MTP, and Russert asked him what govt programs the GOP wanted to cut. Gingrich flat-out refused to answer. Said he was unwilling to give the Democrats a list of things they could accuse Republicans of being against. Quite so.
So this — Obama’s evasions — is a very old story. The basic political fact is that there is NOTHING the American people want “cut” badly enough that they would vote anyone out of office over it. Someday, that mentality will catch up with us. There will be a kind of national reckoning, and it won’t be pretty. I don’t claim to know when it will happen. But it will come sooner or late. And whoever happens to be President when it does happen will become a modern-day political equivalent of Herbert Hoover.
RCAR – my point is that even with the other facts remaining the same i.e. a bad year for republicans, and a, at critical times, poor campaign by McCain, but for the media carrying water for Obama, this race would not be close.
You consider the Couric interview a “pop quiz?” Name one question any 8th grader couldn’t have answered? If Palin isn’t smarter then Couric, she’s not smart enough to hold high office. Palin’s as dumb as a stump. There’s just no getting around it.
Undoubtedly David Gregory and confreres are in the tank for Obama, but don’t underestimate how supremely lazy many of them are. Why do any heavy lifting when you can just regurgitate press releases? Especially since journos are being laid off in increasing numbers due to the MSM circulation and ratings crash.
From NRO:
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZDkxMTU1YjgxODExMzNmMjMzNmUyN2Y0YzZiZDQzNjM=
#13: Yup. It takes one drip to know another.
Blaming the messenger is another way of saying that conservatives have failed to deliver their message and package their candidates. After all, the “MSM” didn’t prevent either papa Bush or baby Bush from getting elected, nor did they prevent the 1994 Contract on America from sweeping to victory, or the 2002 GOP congressional wins, etc. Blaming the MSM is not only lame, it’s not even original: papa Bush tried to ride that to victory in 1992 and failed.
I hope that conservatives continue to blame the “MSM” for years after the election, so that their urgently needed recalibration will be delayed and delayed.
All together now: The MSM elected Obama! Bush was awesome! Palin helped McCain! Palin-Romney 2012!
“On the contrary, the MSM has adopted entirely the Obama storyline. They simple relate it; they don’t challenge or investigate it.”
The MSM has been Obama’s propaganda machine pure and simple.
I find the strutting of the Obamabots a bit overstated. A review of the record will show that despite the unanimous and vocal opposition of the msm and the certainty of a “democrat year” McCain had secured into a lead in he most reliable polls (including the electoral vote count on RCP) and was pulling away when he was smashed by the worst market crash in 70 years. Even with that virtually insurmountable headwind, McCain-Palin are going to come very close, at least in the popular vote, and may still pull it out. It has been an astounding comeback, which I attribute to the enthusiasm Sarah Palin brought to the campaign.
As an aside, an Obama win will certainly show that he is the “anointed one” of some power or another, since this will be his third consecutive election in which events have taken over the campaign and given him the opportunity to coast to victory. One of these days this “clean, articulate” fellow in the empty suit will be challenged to actually do something significant, for the first time in his life. May God have mercy on us if he is President of the United States on that day!
Even CNN is now raising a flag on international, unnamed donations to the Obama campaign. It is just surprising how much they are getting away with. We have all kinds of violations in fundraising, broken New Politics promises, ACORN running around, the use of the Department of Justice to silence opponents, and intimidation at the radio and news stations.
I am glad that CNN is waking up a little bit, and the above mentioned reporter, Gregory, but I find the whole thing incredibly disturbing. On Nov 4th we vote. I am concerned that Nov 5 the MSM celebrates ,and Nov 6th the LA Times releases the tape and the NYT does a story on all of the “returns” to illegal donors. It just feels like there is a huge floodgate blocking all of the facts on Obama until they release post-election. Isn’t there a way to get the facts? Does Stanley Kurtz need to open a school, start a non-profit journalism core, and start his own channel?
Our media is just a tool of the Democratic Party. That’s not healthy for anyone including liberals.
The softball, no-substance interviews with Obama have been laughable while the MSM went after Palin with a vengeance. Have these illuminati hacks no shame?
Ummm…why can’t Palin do a real interview so we can merely ASK her questions????
Oh please. As if Obama didn’t do an interview with Bill O’Rielly. As if he didn’t give not one, but TWO speeches about Wright, and cut his ties with him. As if Bill Ayers name hasn’t been blasted by the MSM for the last two months.
And jeez, you think Obama wasn’t asked about the Born Alive bill? Heard of Google? http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/obama_and_infanticide.html
He HAS answered all these questions, you fools. Just look it up. Maybe the alternative media just doesn’t have the ability to use Lexis Nexis? Stop pretending that he hasn’t been asked these things, just because you want to keep saying, “why won’t he answer…??”
Don’t be so pathetic. Refute his responses if you want, but don’t treat your readers like children and pretend that he has avoided responding, or that the MSM has suppressed it.
#23 – Thank you! This is getting ridiculous. Instead of blaming the ‘vast left-wing MSM conspiracy’, maybe you right-wingers should wake up and realize that your once-proud brand, package, and party have been destroyed from within. Honestly, the GOP is like a dilapidated mansion; used to be something to behold, with a good foundation and supports, but it’s been neglected and the termites have rendered it unlivable.
Obama has gone under the lens for the past 2 years. ‘Why do they attack Palin with a vengeance’? Gosh, maybe because Palin STILL hasn’t sat through a Q&A session so that we can see her think on her own, provide her own thoughts on relevant issues, etc. Instead, she’s used every public opportunity (including, of all things, a DEBATE) as a ‘practiced stump speech’.
She’s pathetic, she’s finished demoralizing at least 1/3 of the conservative base, and she demonstrates the utter emptiness of their campaign: “We’ve got no proposals, but we can attack!”
Matt: that supposedly sexist ad video you posted speaks to Palin being unqualified: as attested to by the majority opinion of Americans, notably including many prominent Republicans. If you are saying you want to draw the party line on backing of Palin, be my guest. No one has said she is unqualified because she’s a woman. They have deemed her unqualified because she comes off as an anti-intellectual and a religious nutball. Figure it out Republicans. Conservatism, by design, is political suicide. Time and with it Progress will always march on. Obama 08
Please. The MSM hasn’t been harsh on McCain either, they’ve been too busy calling the horserace to give much scrutiny to anything anyone is saying. McCain doesn’t give any specifics on what he will cut either. He also doesn’t say how he will reform Washington or win in Iraq and Afghanstan. He just says he will. I don’t see anyone going after that. This article sounds like lame whining, an excuse for a probable loss by a campaign that once considered the press its base.
Obama’s [and McCain's] refusal to identify a single specific item he’d cut in the budget.
The thing is, in this financial turmoil, specifics about the budget are next-to-useless. You can only talk about what you intend to do, and show that you recognise what needs to be done regardless of budget situations.
As for budgets, the entire needless, wasteful Iraq war, is off-budget.
We need a President who knows the constitution, and is willing to strengthen the USA. Not someone who just wants to line the pockets of the already wealthy, at public expense.
Matt – Sexist commercial? Are you kidding me? Her whole flirty appeal is purposeful and is how she has gotten ahead. She was referred to as “way hotter in person” on SNL and she is the idiot who uses the wink…
She reaps in this one what she has sowed and it is classic. I can imagine her winking at the Joint Chiefs when they are briefing her on a crisis….
Mooselini is a joke and embarassment and totally unqualified to be one heartbeat away..
Jonas- there is a major story on millions in donations coming to McCain from overseas….
Does anyone ever question John McCain’s involvement in a car accident that resulted in the death of someone? The US Navy is keeping the information sealed from the media. Vanity Fair has been trying to access that information for sometime now. Let’s fully examine McCain’s plane crashes when he was a pilot in the Navy. Even the Navy doesn’t agree with his statement that one of those crashes was due to plane malfunction. Nobody can question McCain’s background without his supporters bringing up his POW experience as a shield against all criticism. If you question Obama, then you should question McCain as well. The American people don’t know all there is to know about John McCain.
Thou shalt not question the infallible One. He is The One.
Generally speaking, the media primarily covers what the two campaigns are pushing, plus whatever gossipy tidbits catch their eye (flag pin, Palin’s wardrobe, whatever). Frankly, you can’t really complain that the media haven’t been pushing substantive policy questions at Obama, since the McCain campaign hasn’t either. In fact, McCain’s biggest mistake has probably been that he’s left Obama’s policies largely unchallenged, instead opting for an almost entirely negative and personal line of attack. McCain has basically ceded the policy field to Obama, and let the Obama narrative dominate (last minute Joe the Plumber notwithstanding– speaking of which, which idiot let a Republican run on a platform of being against middle class tax cuts?)
I wish I didn’t have to put all the blame on McCain, but I call it like I see it. I find it especially hard not to blame him for the media backlash. He spent the last eight years buddy-buddy with the mainstream media, but pulled a 180 two months ago, cutting off access and kicking the media to the back of the bus (or was it to another bus… I forget). That’s just bad public relations.
Worse, McCain forced the media to figure out how to handle a politician who lies openly. I’m thinking about “drill here, drill now,” specifically. After he first said that, every economist in the country came out of the woodwork to explain why that wouldn’t lower gas prices for at least a few decades. They dominated the political media for a week. In an ordinary campaign, a candidate whose message was discredited would back off the discredited statement, or spin it another way. But McCain just amped it up unaltered. It certainly tears down a reporter’s faith in a candidate who used to be a media darling. I would image it makes a reporter a bit irked as well. Reporters are human, after all. So what is reporter to do? The media has to move on to the next story, but they can’t conscionably continue parroting what they believe to be a bald faced lie without saying anything. So they do exactly what they’re doing now: every time they print that McCain said X, they say in the next paragraph “we should mention that X has been discredited..” It makes McCain look bad.
Six months ago, 2/3 of the coverage was about Obama. But the majority was actually negative and questioning. Obama had a strong base, but the rest of the country was still unsure. By contrast, what little coverage McCain got was fawning and wildly uncritical. The simple fact is that McCain took a media advantage and threw it down the toilet, and he has no one to blame but himself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DHwj5DlIJo
How is this ad sexist?
How can you argue that McCain DIDN’T say these words about his own expertise?
How can you say that Ms. Palin, who left Wasilla $30million in debt, knows any better?
Obama’s not sexist. The media’s not sexist. McCain and Palin dug their own graves with their own words and deeds.
The URL above should have been:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eUz13-pmTY
(copy-paste malfunction
2008 is the year the national media lost what little integrity and creditability it had.
Obama has been handled like no candidate has ever been handled. Instead of probing and/or follow up questions, instead of researching into his background, his experiences or his voting records, the national media, including your paper, chose instead to applaud, praise, cheer, and defend him and his associates. They cover things like; Obama’s campaigning skills, his ability to raise money, his cool, his speaking ability. The media will not ask tough questions, instead they ask him how he liked being on the cover of magazines, if he thought his grandmother would be proud of him?
The national media never had any intention knowing what Obama stands for, what makes him who he is, and what direction he’ll take the country. Three reasons for this; the dreaded “racist” tag, most of the media is very liberal, but more importantly; Obama is a big news event, an event the media does want to be left out of.
But don’t worry MSM, if you get him elected and you keep cheering him and defending him, you’ll be invited to all the big events, like; the new socialist America, the new Great Depression, a stronger than ever Soviet Union & Iran & Syria, the end of Israel, plus sky-high inflation, unemployment, and interest rates— just to name a few.
But beware, don’t ask questions that Obama and friends don’t like, because then you’re off the list.
Sometimes America needs a real kick-in-the-mouth, sometimes America takes a while to figure things out.
The 2008 election might seem like the end point of a great campaign, but I’m seeing it has a possible starting point for the implosion of the Democratic Party, and the national media. It may take a few years to come to fruition, but with Obama, Biden, Pelosi, Reid, a liberal Supreme Court, and MSM— there can be no doubt as to the outcome.
Of these biased MSM drones who have wasted our time this year pretending to cover news when they are presiding over talking points instead, many will be soon laid off after Nov. 4.
I used to work for the mainstream media and I am disgusted at their blatant bias for Obama, combined with an underlying refusal/laziness to vet him as a candidate. They all but crucified Hillary Clinton and now John McCain when each rightly tried to point out Obama’s lack of credentials and questionable past associations. It is disheartening to watch our country follow this dangerously unqualified, do-nothing candidate into the abyss solely because he “represents” change. If he does win, this will mark the longest job Obama’s had in his political career. I am horrified.
Did you watch the debates? All those questions were asked of Obama, and he answered them well. His economic policies aren’t controversial by any standards – even Ben Bernanke approves them over McCains’.
SAME STANDARD APPLIES HERE
There are definitely some things that the media takes at face value and doesn’t challenge with every candidate.
Obama supporters never challenged it hard; but they were waiting the media to really question Hillary Clinton’s claim that 8 years as First Lady constituted relavent experience.
And as with the McCain campaign itself, the media accepted the notion of notion of “Maverick” and “Reformer” without much challenge.
There has not been half as much investigation into the Keating Five and McCain’s “associations” with figures that helped create the last banking collapse in this country as DEMS would argue is relevant. And on a personal level, we all know blogs with damaging rumors about the McCain’s personal life that have not been pursued or repeated in the mainstream media like Obama’s associations have been.
Maybe McCain needs to be running against George Bush again to have a more thorough vetting; but there is a lot that the MSM takes at face value because they have limited time and if the opposition seems to be accepting it; they’ll move on to their own questions.
Who cares about real issues! He’s palling around with terrists!
I wish politics didn’t have the bloodthirsty partisanship that is so overwhelming right now. Look at these comments, you’d think one or the other candidate was Count Dracula himself, running for commander in chief.
My personal opinions aside, let’s not lie or stretch the truth on either side and have an actual debate here instead! Maybe some revelations could actually be had by some people, seeing real fact and drawing an honest conclusion, if it wasn’t just insults like one might see on a kindergarten playground. No one is Satan here, just people, and everyone thinks what they’re pushing for is best for the country and best for the people living here, so can we try to respect each other a bit more?
This election is making me ashamed, of when I behave so single-mindedly and when I see others doing it as well.
Obviously we haven’t been watching the same campaign. The media covered Rev. Wright and Bill Ayers in the spring ad naseum. In the debates, he was also questioned about balancing the budget. This editorial reminds me of the same twisted logic that was used in the run up to the financially devastating and ultimately unneccessary Iraq war — when UN weapons inspectors didn’t find any WMDs in Iraq, the right wing insisted that this was proof that Iraq was hiding WMDs.
This is my take on anyone who actually uses the phrase “mainstream media” or (even worse) “MSM.”
http://nataliedee.com/123107/ugh-journalistic-integrity-is-BORING.jpg
If obama wins this election the Country will see trouble as they’ve never seen before.This person is a “JOKE” He doesn’t have a clue regarding foreign policy or dealing with the “Bad” guys! Granted McCain isn’t the best choice we’ve had in the past years but he’s head and shoulder’s above obama in every way! obama can’t spell taxes let alone doing anything to help. Our current problems started back in Clinton’s time and some of it even before. Bush didn’t cause this current situation. Read the history going back 10 15 years. obama didn’t exisit before 2-1/2 years ago, try and find his history, nothing there.
@American first:
Fortunately, you’ll be able to find out what an Obama presidency looks like firsthand
Here’s the problem: the assumption that we should be cutting ANYTHING in a recession. We shouldn’t. Where did the media and the blogosphere come up with this? Also–raising taxes is ‘dangerous’ in a recession: it depends on who you’re raising them on!
A little history for you all:
- Hoover tried to balance the budget in ’30 and ’31–big mistake. It deepened the depression. After that, no balanced budgets.
- Then, in ’36, the economy started to pick up. So they decided: time to balance the budget! And back into the depression we went.
- In ’41, once the war started, the democrats passed a 90% marginal tax rate on the top earners to pay for the war. That, plus the extra war spending pulled the country out of the depression. AND it set us up for success later.
Little history goes a long way, people.
Ah, so the McCain/Palin Republicans can’t handle it when their voter suppression efforts go awry, and they want to grasp at straws on a subject that’s been discussed already in the debates? Nice try, but the Democrats are enjoying the McCain/Palin Republicans feast of one another. Let’s see – who’s on top of the Republican ticket again??? Seems McCain has created a monster in Palin and you want to point the finger at Obama.
If reporters were really doing their job, they would be grilling both candidates on how pathetically inadequate each of their explanations of anything is. The fact is, the press is far more interested in tactics and feel rather than substance. Obama’s positions are vague, but he seems to know what he is talking about. McCain’s positions are simply looney given the verdict of the 20 year experiment we’ve had in “trickle-down.” No one is really challenging the obvious inadequacy of his views. The press is too afraid of being labeled “liberal” by the right-wing wacko’s.
These are videos of another Obama’s friend Khalid al-Mansur. Please, spread the word. maybe one of those videos will end up in MSM:
http://www.aswatalislam.net/DisplayFilesP.aspx?TitleID=50050&TitleName=Khalid_Al_Mansour
To better understand Obama and the media, re-reading Machiavelli might be helpful.
Obama is seeking to lead the country. To gain this post it is necessary to be extremely generous. This is the reason that politicians always promise to cut taxes and spend generously for everything the voters might like: alternative energy (low gas prices), peace, victory in war, free health care, a check in the mail.
No one wants to pay for these things, and no one wants to lose anything they may have already. Thus, to appear generous, questions about such matters must be avoided at all costs. Most veteran reporters know this, and while they could pester the candidates in an unsuccessful attempt to flush out the truth, they generally prefer to maintain access to the candidate, which is essential to their future career.
After all, good Machiavellians get to become the rulers of the nation.
Boo Hoo!! Is that what you’re running to Mommy cryin’ about? Mommy, Mommy! The media is too biased! Wahhh!!
Maybe IF the GOP didn’t shun intellectualism and wear stupidity on its sleeve, IF they’d picked someone a bit more informed and educated as their VP nominee, IF they’d had allowed the media access to Palin and had her do real interviews (Hannity infomercials don’t count), IF McCain had not gone into a press/media blackout after the convention, he’d not be in this position.
See, I hate this constant call for more substance, because substance doesn’t sell. Why? Because to understand the ‘substance’ of modern issues in the political, foreign policies, and economic spheres you need a college education. And not just any college education, but a very good one. If the media isn’t bringing the ‘truth’ to your doorstep there is nowhere to look but in the mirror.
This constant cry for more attention to the Ayers link, or Jeremiah Wright, or any other so called ‘terrorist’ connection is simply endemic of that. John McCain’s campaign manager was hired by Vladimir Putin to lobby on behalf of RusAL. Does that make McCain a Russian spy? Senator McCain served in the Senate along with Trent Lott. Does that mean Senator McCain hates black people?
These ‘stories’ you think need to be brought to light are not because they are not stories at all. They are random instances of correlation which hold no narrative value beyond that which is assigned in the minds of the self-delusional. Because, really, the press must be biased. Because if it wasn’t, then John McCain would be polling just a little under the Almighty Himself.
What a disgusting excuse for a joke.
“WFTV Barbara West challenged Biden and now the station has been cutoff from any further access to interviews.”
Right there is why. FOXNEWS is another one Obama does not think much of. The Obama campaign even went so far as to meet with the editors and owners to try and convince FOX of the error of their ways.
Can you imagine reporters from Fox or WFTV being called on in an Obama press conference!
This is not an Obama issue. Neither candidate will talk about cutting the budget. We do not live in a society that awards honesty. If a candidate said, “We will have to go into Afghanistan in a big way and we are going to have to cut…. many social programs, close tax loop holes, delay aggressive energy proposals” or whatever, that candidate would lose immediately. Americans like to be lied to. Look at your own life and the lives of those around you. If all of you are telling the truth, then you can demand the truth be told for the first time ever in a political campaign. For now, politicians will continue to sugar-coat everything–at least until they get into office. You are left to read between the lines. It’s the American way.
great points!! Think of how much they’ve questioned the McCain / Palin storyline! The mainstream press is OBSESSED with McCain’s incessant waffling (against Bush tax breaks before it), Palin’s waffling (for the bridge before against it), and the fact that Palin has been judged to be guilty on abuses of power. You can’t turn on the TV without hearing about how they are not in fact mavericks at all, but McCain has become the lapdog of the Republican party, and Palin is one of the most corrup politicians — outside of McCain who is a member of the Keating 5. I wish they would stop talking about how McCain accepted 100,000s of gifts from Keating and then failed to oversee the S&L industry. This is to speak nothing of the 3 planes that McCain crashed. I for one, think they should shut up with the, “When will McCain pay us back for those planes” baloney. If they could stop debunking the Maverick thing for 1 second they could see how Obama is A MUSLIM!!!
This is a travesty. The elitist left press have lost any sense of a moral compass. Our election processes have been denigrated and undermined by deceit and cheating. If Obama wins and the current Democratic leadership drive the socialist agenda they spew, our society will suffer and deteriorate. Along the way the real Americans will organize and the new revolution will come. There is little difference in the tyranny of a socialist regime and the monarchies of yesterday. It may be that we will need to go back and take the country back using the principles and values and methods our founding fathers found necessary. What a travesty the elitist left have made of our governance and what a disgrace are the elitist mainstream press. The fact that McCain can still pull off a victory reveals that there are still many millions of us that believe in the value of individuality, freedom to create and achieve, freedom from tyranny, the right to bear arms, the sanctity of life, etc. We won’t go away. We will grow strong and fierce and take our country back. Obama is a socialist. Socialism has failed in every place it has sprouted. It will fail if he is elected. Believers in freeedom must be ready to take our country back. The opportunity will come. We must prepare and stay vigilant. God help us all in the mean time.
If McCain/Palin win this election, a lot of people in the MSM and the polling institutions will have a lot of explaining to do. There is absolutely no reason to believe, and it has been this way for the past month, that McCain/Palin will win this election. My ONLY comfort from an Obama victory is that FINALLY we’ll begin to get some good economic news reported by the MSM. I’m tired of hearing about the “Recession” we’re in (for the past 18 months now; reference Jeannine Alvarez Yahoo Economic News) when we’ve as of yet not had a single negative GDP quarter (2 required for actual recession). An Obama presidency would finally bring about the recognition that the US economy deserves, strong despite 9/11, 2 wars, and a world financial crisis.
Jennifer, you want some cheese with that “whine” !!!!!!!!
It IS the job of reporters not to swallow the pablum offered by camPaigns. Although I don’t know what this kid is compalining about . No one has asked Obama a togh question yet.
The “Tank Media” that has acted as Obama Democratic Party surrogates has just about stolen this election. We will find out for sure in six days.
The Tank Media’s (CNN/MSNBC/Time/Newsweek/NYT) partisanship is finally becoming a major national issue, and perhaps the Tank Media will cease to exist. I would urge…
Boycott CNN & MSNBC. Do not buy Time, Newsweek or the New York Times. Support other more responsible forms of information sources.
The guy’s been vetted for over 2 years, all the stories have come out already. Bringing up this crap now would be no different than blasting McCain with his criminal alliances in the Keating 5. The economy is what matters now and who would do the better job at bringing it back is the real important question we are facing. You guys are pathetic whining about campaign financing, whining about the media. The Republican party has stolen the Democrats reputation and is now the new party of whiners. The media just reports on how the see the campaigns being run, they are more impressed with Obama’s campaign so just deal with it.
The Blitz as no guts the only thing he will ask is do you want to direct some day,and the reply will be yes. what would your subject matter be THE WORLD I think IIII can make a difference in the WORLD.Then the Blitz will say you wouldn’t have any opening at the big house would you. Will if Iget convicted for dumping on my realatives Ibetter go alone. This guy is not fit to teach or be a senator or any other position inpublic life. simply go away and take your shame with you.
The American people, minus the slave states of Dixie, are taking the country back from the crackpots, the venal, the greedy and the wicked. Now they know why calling someone a “conservative,” back in the days of Abraham Lincoln was as bad as calling someone a child molester today – even among Republicans. Looks like George Bush awakened a sleeping giant. Because we didn’t fight and win the Civil War to have a bunch of ultra right wing Southerners with one tooth and one brain cell between them calling the shots.
These tired points brought up in this simplistic article have been churned and rechurned and churned again for the past 2 years. The only reason McCain supporters think they need to be presented and digested again is because you don’t like Obama’s answer – or put more simply – you don’t like the truth. Obama has never waivered and has been very very consistent in how he addressed these tired old questions. If I had time to waste I could sit here and list quite a few controversial issues that McCain and Palin should answer to as well but quite frankly since they are so far behind no one really cares – certainly me….and I am a Republican. The deal was certainly sealed for me when the public was asked to believe that Palin is a viable VP candidate. Yeah right!!! That selection was an insult to my intelligence and only further supported with her behavior to date. The majority of the press probably does favor Obama because he is by far the best most articulate, intelligent candidate and has run the best – most consistent campaign by far. The press is human too. If I were MSM I would be voting for Obama and probably having a hard time hiding my position.
The liberals will all commit suicide.
The only question is:
- will it be immediately if McCain wins, or
- will it be in three years if Obama wins?
The media has become a much narrower conduit to information. Writers are laid off and local papers simply pull stories off the wire from AP or MacLatchkey. In short, there is very little diversity of thought and fewer eyes on the candidates. Which makes reporters who have been around Washington for awhile more part of the story than independent reporters of the story. Right now, mainstream news media is struggling financially. Newspaper circulation is down and people don’t like/don’t trust the main networks. So the solution is to kill competition via the poorly named “Fairness bill” and eliminate any possibility of having diversity of thought on issues. And this is the crux of the problem. You cannot claim the rights of free speech if you don’t bestow those rights on those around you. The media is incensed that other outlets dare to question Their Authority. So they seek to prove their might by ramming two really lame candidates down our throats. They do it for the ratings. Ratings equal money. This isn’t a campaign, it’s a reality show. The sad thing is, that unless some real news about real issues leaks out into the mainstream media, we will all suffer through one of the most drastic alterations of our economy since the Depression. And frankly, the alterations made then are the ones we are stuck paying for now.
The more interesting question is which of Obama’s supporters will get the shaft after he wins. He can’t please them all. He might not even be able to please half given constraints of reality. So who gets screwed??
Comical, the far right media is hailing David Gregory as a beacon of fairness and balance after they’ve eviscerated him in the past? As for the liberal media, they gave us Presidents Gore and Kerry, as well as those enormous Democratic majorities from 94-06′ so this is just more of the same, right Jen Jen?
When did conservatives become such whiny babies? Oh, right, when they realized they were going to lose. Stop blaming the media and look at the massive failures of the Republican party if you want to understand what’s going on.
I am a life long Chicago democrat who simply can not bring myself to vote for Obama? Why not?
1. He essentially hasn’t shown a real interest in any job for which he received a paycheck. He didn’t do much in the IL Senate and infact stopped showing up on Mondays – even though the legislature only met part of the year. I think his foundation work largely put him in a position to meet a lot of influential and wealthy people and put him in a position to advance his political career by handing out money to potential supporters. There is no evidence that he furthered the goals of the foundations he worked for and virtually no reporting on exactly what their goals were. He was an attorney who never tried a case and didn’t rise beyond entry level work. He taught school, but never really got involved with the school itself – to further it’s development as an institution. Obama has been very efficient – too efficient- in engaging in activities that resulted in his own advancement. Other than that, he hasn’t left any real footprints. This extraordinary individual has not left a positive impact on the lives of his constitituents.
2. Obama has no new ideas. He is spouting 1960′s ideas and New Deal ideas. I thought he was a great thinker. No, he is a great copier – noted for taking credit for the work of others which his colleagues in both the IL and US Senates have confirmed.
2. No one trusts the democrats in Cook County. The costs are rising, the murder rate is embarrasing (much of it in Obama’s old State senate district). They’ve invented a new way of subverting the democratic process . They now run for reelection by securing their party’s nomination in the primary, and then they announce retirement and pass the job to a son who did not run in the primary. That’s how my congressment got the job – he wasn’t even an Illinois resident when that happened. It has happend two times since – including Obama’s mentor Emil Jones who just passed his spot on the ticket to his son. My congressman even hired people to run against him – one who never bothered to campaign, for the purpose of spliting the vote among several opponents.
3. I don’t trust the democrats anymore on immigration – they are merely interested in signing up new voters for their party. Some one else is going to pay the bill to educate and provide healthcare for them. That is probably me – because I managed to have some savings. There is no question in my mind that in addition to taxing income; they will increase taxes on accumulated savings – at increasingly smaller levels of it.
4. I won’t go so far as to say Obama shares the views of many of his associates – but I will say that he has spent too little time around people who are neither poor nor rich, who are not academics. Somehow I don’t think his life in Hawaii, Indonesia, or Hyde Park allows him to relate much to people who get up every day and have 9 to 5 jobs, pay taxes, and pay their bills and go to church to worship and not to listen to a political agenda. Whatever he knows about people like me, he learned on the campaign trail. Not by actually doing the job he was elected to. I don’t think he knows much about people who actually make choices and don’t blame others for the consequences of those choices.
5. As someone who campaigned as a reformer, he is a hypocrite. The revelations about how his web site has disabled the security on credit cards and also not tracking small donations don’t surprise me a bit. If Obama had stood by his original pledge to take public finacing, I might be voting for him. But anyone who says they are better than everyone else sure needs to be better. The things he says he is – bi partisan and a champion for ethics – why McCain has a better record on both of these issues.
6. I really don’t like Nancy Pelosi. Her interview on Meet the Press about the Catholic’s views on when life begins pursuaded me that she did not deserve the benefit of the doubt about anything. Anyone who would misrepresent he own religions position on that subject is simply inadequate in the trust department. She was so bad, that the west coast cardinals put out a statement to be read in Church the same morning, after hearing the interview aired on the east coast. We don’t need a democratic president and congress- especially with her in leadership position.
The republicans aren’t much better, but to the extent that they believe in smaller governement, I prefer them, I used to believe more in economic justice issues, but I no longer trust politicians to administer it. We have no way to hold anyone accountable for the wisdom of how tax payers dollars are spent.
This is just too big an office for someone, who in my opinion, has not earned it. He’s too much for his own advancement and not enough a public servant. I just can’t relate to his lack of effort on behalf of his constituents and the taxpayers.
Awww, poor babies, always being repwessed by the big bad media congwomerates and their corpowate overwords… waah… waah…
I just watched the “His Choice” ad, and as a strong feminist, I find nothing sexist about it. You all should know that the National Organization for Women also officially supports Obama-Biden. I would love to have a woman in the White House, but not that one.
American people are pretty wise, they see the hype and the media favoritism. That poll will show up on Nov 4, and we will find out if Americans are as dumb as Obama hopes, or have some backbone and think for themselves. I say the latter.
Reporters are so focused on reporting the talking points for each day, and they haven’t looked into the “real Sarah Palin” yet. For example,
- Wasn’t she a Ted Stevens protege, where she learned how to maneuver in the political fields in Alaska? Why was she so quick to turn against him after the court conviction? Where is the analysis on the similarity in their business-person mingling and small-town corruption styles?
- Where is Sarah Palin’s medical records this close to election? Republicans complain about Obama only releasing a brief doctor’s note, but where is hers? Is she hiding anything? Without reports’ scrutiny, should people just assume that she’s healthy and she’s Trig’s biological mother without her medical records?
The incipient recession looming over us would be pretty impervious to the tax-cut-for-the-wealthy nostrum. The cause is pretty clearly that consumers are so deeply in debt that it is going to take them years to get out. This suggests that a step in the curative direction would be to put a little more money in the hands of the masses whose purchasing (demand) fuels the businesses that supply. That is, businesses will not have incentive to expand into the headwind of an impecunious population of consumers. I thus find incorrect the proposal that job creation by expanding business unleashed by tax cuts will get us out of this mess.
Regarding your reference to Obama’s silence on exactly what he would cut from his programs, I don’t really see how any thoughtful (as opposed to glib) response is possible until he and his staff have reviewed an entire budget. No one in his/her right mind would do otherwise. My recollection was that McCain proposed a freeze on government spending and getting rid of earmarks. Drivel. Is that what we want in a President? Give me thinking any day.
Ok, I’ve had it. Here is the Obama surfing list, meaning he has surfed all these waves that would have killed any other candidate by now (Please feel free to add):
1.Disdain for American Symbols like Flag, Pledge, Flower on Ground Zero.
2.“Prideless” wife
3.God damned America Pastor
4.“Bitter-gate” Disrespect for the common American people.
5.“Nafta-gate” – it was all political posturing, remember?
6.Never won primaries, never achieved magical number. Super delegates did.
7.Terrorist / dubious Friends – Ayers, Resko… (Just that would’ve disqualify him or ANY other presidential aspirant…in fact would disqualify anyone seeking high security job in US government)
8.Doubts about his birth, doubts about his allegiances.
9.Mainstream Media just another branch of his campaign
10.Opposition to Born Alive Infant/Survivor of Abortion bill (and Im prochoice!)
11.ACORN
12.Support and endorsement from Hizbollah, Hamas, Chavez, Castro, and European Liberals. Enough said.
13. Recipient of international and foreign donations. (I didn’t know America’s Democracy was for sale).
14. Crush and destruction of anybody, anything that could mean a threat to Obama (Palin, Joe Plumber).
15. Articles and news that can be detrimental to Obama are removed asap from the media, if they make it at all: examples: Biden’s gaffes, Lybia’s Gadaffi referring to Obama as ‘our brother’…, suppression and deletion of internet material by his Antismear campaign (including most info regarding his opposition to bill to provide support for survivors of abortion)…
16. Application of ‘Kill the Messenger” technique.
17. Affirmative Action Candidate – exonerated from any scrutiny applied to others.
18. Free use of Sexism, Ageism in his campaign and by his followers, but pronto to use the Race card or accuse of racism anyone who has questions about him.
19. Manipulation of Pollsters to apply the winning bandwagon theory (show him winning all the time, so more people simply join in and don’t bother to find out)
List too long…
The ad is not the least bit sexist.
10
Captain America Says:
October 29th, 2008 at 12:43 PM
“They further determine what is in bounds and what is out of bounds when it comes to lines of inquiry in interviewing political figures and how responses are framed. The Couric-Palin interview is a classic illustration of that. The Couric “interview” was a pop quiz that was never applied to Sen. Biden nor Sen. Obama. For that matter, Couric would not pop quiz Sen. McCain either because she would end up looking foolish with seasoned national stage figures.”
————————————————————————————————————
Dude, Captain America, are you serious? The infamous “putin rears his head and comes into the airspace” interview was an unfair “pop quiz?” Mighty tough questions, huh? Name a Supreme Court decision? Name a newspaper you read? Explain your strange statements?
Wow. Are you even trying to think rationally? I was never an undecided in this race, but I would have voted for McCain over many of the Democrats that Obama beat in the primary — including Biden. Look at what you wrote again and ask yourself if you are being objective and reasonable. Palin is a complete embarrassment, a proposition that 60 percent of the country agrees with. She is unable to answer basic questions of law and policy. Why do you not think that is disturbing?
And don’t answer by saying she is as qualified for the VP as Obama is for the presidency. I frankly think that is the most racist thing that Obama’s critics say. Do intellect and temperament matter to you? He is a first-rate intellect and the most thoughtful man to run for President in a very long time. I actually admire that McCain hasn’t race-baited as much as I feared, or as much as other opponents (Democrats and Republicans) would have. John McCain is a decent, honorable man. His supporters, and his VP pick, on the other hand …
Jennifer,
In at least two of the debates, both candidates were repeatedly hammered about specific budget cuts they would make. Both McCain and Obama were evasive and non-specific. McCain put forth a spending freeze across the board while Obama talked about surgical precision to determine which programs worked, which needed more funding and which needed to be dropped. I take exception to your assertion that the media has given Obama a pass on specifics which implies, of course, that they have not been so generous toward McCain. Further, with reference to Ayers, Wright and Daley and the less than front-and-center treatment of Obama’s relationship to those men, McCain has just as many seemingly, or at least potentially, disturbing associations with splinter right wing nationalist groups, Charles Keating and G. Gordon Liddy, a man with whom McCain proclaimed proud friendship on the David Letterman show last week.
Jennifer,
In at least two of the debates, both candidates were repeatedly hammered about specific budget cuts they would make. Both McCain and Obama were evasive and non-specific. McCain put forth a spending freeze across the board while Obama talked about surgical precision to determine which programs worked, which needed more funding and which needed to be dropped. I take exception to your assertion that the media has given Obama a pass on specifics which implies, of course, that they have not been so generous toward McCain. Further, with reference to Ayers, Wright and Daley and the less than front-and-center treatment of Obama’s relationship to those men, McCain has just as many seemingly, or at least potentially, disturbing associations with splinter right wing nationalist groups, Charles Keating and G. Gordon Liddy, a man with whom McCain proclaimed proud friendship on the David Letterman show last week.
I find your assertions nothing more than whining with little treatment of any facts. You call yourself a real reporter? I guess maybe you are in the “fair and balanced” way that Fox News is.
This is the great tragedy of the 2008 election. It has demonstrated that we no longer have a free and independent, objective media. This is so dangerous because an objective press is essential to citizen self-rule.
More tragically, as a result of the loss of a free and objective media, it appears possible that we will elect the first President that does not share the same vision of America that every President to date has held.
Instead we may have a president who only sees the worst of America; who believes that the values that have made America the greatest, most innovative, most generous nation in history are no longer relevant; a president who neither understands, nor respects, the Constitution that he must swear to ‘preserve, protect, and defend’ before he can become President.
This may indeed be the most historic election since John Adams was elected: I just pray it isn’t historic because it marks the date on which our Constitution is no longer the basis of our government.
To drp (12:56 p.m. on 10/29): Please give up the “Palin is as dumb as a stump” line. If you need to, read some recent articles written about her by Democrats, including one called “In Defense of Sarah Palin” by Elaine Lafferty in the Daily Beast. Those who have met Palin will tell you that she is very intelligent and personable. If you disagree with her views, or you don’t believe that she is experience enough to be VP, that’s fine. But please give up the “bimbo” approach, because it doesn’t fit her, and a lot of people, including her opponents, have learned this. Stick to the issues, O.K.?
“Seen the sexist Obama campaign commercial yet?”
Its not sexist – the point is that she has no experience with the economy, it has nothing to do with her being a woman. Think about it.
I’m sorry – but I’ve watched this guy speeches and read the transcripts – I honestly don’t get the hype – because he wears jeans and his wife shops on line and they do the cool fist bump thing? This is why we’re voting for a guy who taught law school and organized groups of people in his community? You’ve got to be kidding……and I’m a Democrat !
Obama has spent 230 million for a jumbo ad on TVs
I am wondering why he needed it, CNN, NBC, MSNBC etc are blaring for Obama 24 hours
Or is it a bribe for the paasionate service they have done for him
It is a shame to watch the great Networks like CNN and NBC, which had legends like Erin Brown and Tom Brokaw, now stooping to this level
I am wondering is it because of the big corporates like GE and AOL have monopoly over the media now and they are the ones now promoting socialism with Obama, what an irony
Hey, Matt (#1)… can I ask you a question? Will you please shut the f*** up? How is that sexist? Sarah Palin’s a blithering idiot. It’s got nothin’ to do w/ her gender, unless, of course, you think Dan Quayle was a genius! Wait, lemme guess… you do!
What is most remarkable about this entire discussion, from the original column to the last comment, is the apparent absence of any common ground. It would be easy to say that the sniping is equivalent on both sides of this battered Berlin Wall, just as journalists seem to have lately decided that “Candidate A eats bad food” is the moral equivalent of “Candidate B beats his/her children.” But in fact there is a spurious moral distinction in both that example and in trying to make equivalences between and among the comments published here. The center-right side of this debate, for the most part and especially recently, has displayed a remarkable venom, one seen only on the farthest crazy fringes of the left. As to media distortions, the first simple truth is that the “media” aren’t and have never been in the tank for anyone. Anyone who thinks the Democratic Party is treated more lovingly than Republicans in the American press need only examine the press’s generosity, for at least its first six years, toward the current Administration. What institution outside of government sold the Iraq war most ferociously? The New York Times, that supposed castle of the left. In the current campaign, attentive reading and viewing for much of 2008 informed any objective observer that the pillars of the mainstream press were deeply suspicious of Barack Obama and openly doubted his readiness for the presidency. A good deal of the criticism of him found resonance among most serious journalists. At the same time, a clear majority of mainstream reporters manifested a great affection for Senator McCain — something well short of outright bias in his favor, but certain a basic generosity. They had known him for a very long time, and they liked him. It was only after his selection of Governor Palin as his running mate that his relatively free ride became seriously bumpy, and even then the obvious partisans (such as Brokaw) were determined not to tarnish his image as a moderate, thoughtful politician. The problem was, he had tarnished it himself. He had wanted as his running mate a moderate politician like Lieberman or Ridge or perhaps even Susan Collins, and the far right of the Republican Party essentially threatened to abandon him if he stuck to what he believed in. Reporters could hardly miss this fact, and reporting on it could hardly be called bias. Senator McCain’s inability to articulate a vision of what he believed in was also his problem, not the problem of biased media coverage. Senator McCain’s missteps in the three debates were his own, not the result of a biased media. How can we know this? Does anyone truly believe that those instant polls following the debates were manufactured lies? The American people simply didn’t like the tone of Senator McCain’s performance. You can’t blame the media for that. Senator McCain was judged to have lost those debates. The miracle is that the margins by which he was judged to have lost were not fully reflected in polls of likely voters. (I leave it to the social scientists, psychiatrists, and neurologists out there to explain that one.) History tells us that the major assault on the press as “liberal” and “biased” was invented in the 1960s and 1970s by the Republican Party to thwart criticism of its unfortunate, and often admitted, reliance on race-based politics long after the horrors of the 1950s. The press is not and has never been “liberal.” The press has never been obviously more pro-Democrat than pro-Republican. As a reporter who worked in Washington, I can assure all paranoids that the press does not lead. It follows. Its biases come and go with broader changes in the American psyche. Its reporters are by no means from the traditional American elites of the left. In the end, we deserve the press we get. And what we have gotten, as Katie Couric reminded us, is a cautious, frightened institution that proves conclusively one of the great sayings in the game: “The power of the press belongs to those who own one.”
How much follow up does the media ask when John McCain says “I know what to do, I know how to keep us safe, I know how to get Bin Laden?” They don’t, probably because they know that he does not have a clue.
They don’t ask him how he received command assignments graduating 5th from the bottom in college. Because, like George W. Bush, they know he got plumb assignments because his father had a high government/military position. Isn’t that how it operates in communist nations?
They don’t ask him why he spends all of his speeches criticizing his opponent and not advocating for himself. Maybe they should ask him if he des it because he has no plans of his own?
No more fear.
“But, by point of comparison, look how foolish Biden looked when asked probative questions of late (still not at the level of pop quiz though).”nt
Excellent point Capt. A. Heck, even in softball interviews Biden manages to screw it up. His statement about FDR going on television in 1929 was straight out of Bizarro World. Sure, he’s the Senate’s top foreign policy expert (just ask him, he’ll tell you), but a 146 IQ? I don’t think so. And Obama. Oi. When you get that guy off script he’s a disaster, which is why he NEVER takes questions from the press. Ever. Just imagine the press conferences he’ll have to do as president. Those will be funny. “Uhh…uhh…well I just got done visiting all 57 states and …uhhh…”
Oh cry me a freaking river – all this BS about the media hates/conspires against my favourite candidate while loving the other guy/being on his payroll is mere sour grapes.
Face it all media coverage is biased, that’s why it’s important to view a wide range of different points of view from across a broad section so that you can build up an overall picture.
That said some of this stuff is too stupid to be addressed all that fully really – Ayers? Wright? Give me a break – everyone knows people who have done regrettable things in the past or believes in stupid things, doesn’t mean that you share the persons viewpoint on the issue in question. Especially with Ayers who was violent radical at a time when Obama was 8.
The Born Alive thing? That’s freaking stupid – here’s why, the ONLY difference between the law that Obama voted against and the existing law was that the proposed law wanted to remove the distinction between viable and non-viable fetuses. Fact is that non-viable fetuses are non-viable because we don’t even have the medical technology to allow them a chance of survival. Basicly the proposed law was going to waste funding on trying to revive a fetus born so prematurely that it had no chance of survival whatsoever. Given that this violates the principle of having doctors decide on appropriate medical care rather than politicians, wastes expense resources on these fetuses that cannot survive that would be better spent treating people who have a chance. It is basicly a pro-life Bridge to Nowhere… perhaps the real question in all of it is wy no one has questioned the religious right on why they think it’s more important to waste money on people who won’t survive in any case while being totally opposed to providing medical care for those who do have a chance but lack funds?
To tell the truth I think real reporters are embarressed to bring up these sort of stupid points – but then the McCain campaign isn’t aimed at reporters, it’s aimed at influencing people with vicious and factually inaccurate claims and implied comments.
Finally on the note of economics – I suspect neither candidate will be drawn to heavily on that right now – the situation it too unpredictable and to be fair they need to leave themselves room to change policies as the situation changes.
This article is basically mute since it was written by a person who is the exact opposit of a “real reporter”. Jennifer Rubin is a sad, GOP sycophant who is clinging to a dead ideology. Ihate to break it to you Jen, but America isn’t buy your Conservative crap anymore…just lok at the polls. The GOP has spent 8 years proving what a cowardly, incompetent joke it is, and now they are in the toilet where they belong. On Nov 4th that toilet will be flushed, and Rubin, Limbaaugh, Hannity, Ingraham, McCain and the rest will be in the sewer where they belong:)
Regarding #89:
“They don’t ask him how he received command assignments graduating 5th from the bottom in college. Because, like George W. Bush, they know he got plumb [sic] assignments because his father had a high government/military position.”
Not only was he at the bottom of his Annapolis class, he also had, I believe, three plane crashes while he was in training to be a fighter pilot – grounds for washing out anyone who was not heir to rank, I would think. The crashes also indicate his pattern of impulsiveness, as do his choice of Gov. Palin as his running mate and his frenzied response to the economic crash. He has a good deal of charm, but he is a real danger to the country; we’d be in yet another war in short order if he is elected. Anger is his response to everything that deviates from his views.
Sexist? Come on.
The ad comments on the assessment of the Obama campaign of Palin’s qualifications to provide McCain the tutoring he claims to need on economics. The video of Palin selected did not depict a posture forced on her not a candid moment taken out of context. This one her marquis moment an featured a gesture she clearly chose and rehearsed.
Please tell, where is the sexism?
Matt said… “Seen the sexist Obama campaign commercial yet?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eUz13-pmTY ”
I watched the commercial that Matt referenced here, I couldn’t see the slightest hint of sexism in it. The clear implication of the ad is that Palin isn’t an expert on the economy. If someone wants to argue with this ad, they can do so by arguing that Palin does have economic expertise. Whichever view one has on Palin’s economic knowledge, it’s got nothing at all to do with her sex.
Is Matt’s implication that since Palin is a woman, any criticism of her economic experience or knowledge constitutes sexism??
Stuart
http://stuart-randomthoughts.blogspot.com/
All of this has been covered, you can find all of it on Google. The MSM have been so kind to Obama that Ayers and Wright were all over the airwaves for weeks. Fact is, you have the most conservative media in the free world.
Still, i know full well that people will believe what they want to believe so go ahead, keep screaming that the media is in bed with Obama if it makes you happy. It won’t be true, won’t even be close but at least you’ll have someone else to blame.
And when has John McCain been asked about intervening with S&L regulators on behalf of Charles Keating, a thief who gave big contributions to McCain’s campaign, did a lot of business with McCain’s second wife and took the McCain’s on “free” junkets? When was McCain asked about intervening with federal prosecutors on behalf of his drug addict second wife when she stole drugs from her charity to support her habbit? When has McCain been asked about all the times he has boasted of being a deregulator when he now wants to call for financial markets regulation? When has McCain been asked about claiming to “put country first” when he picked an unqualified VP candidate for purely political reasons? When has he been asked anything at all? The press has always given McCain a pass on tough questions because he used to be straight with them back in 2000.
“The center-right side of this debate, for the most part and especially recently, has displayed a remarkable venom, one seen only on the farthest crazy fringes of the left. As to media distortions, the first simple truth is that the “media” aren’t and have never been in the tank for anyone.”
Seriously Alex, you’re embarrassing yourself. The Right has displayed “remarkable venom” but not the Left? Have you seen any of the comments about Sara Palin? You know, the comments about how stupid she is, and how she should have aborted her last child, and how her husband obviously molests their kids because that’s what they do in Alaska. And you know very well that the media is completely in the tank for Obama, especially the Times, Newsweek, and NBC. Everything that has come out about him that might be negative–Wright, Rezko, Ayers, Pflager–has come from either Fox news or some conservative blogger. Look, it is an absolute undeniable fact that if McCain had sat in neo-segregationist racist church for twenty years or had been friends with an terrorist, that NBC would have been on it immediately. They would have had satellite trucks parked outside of McCain’s pastor’s house, much like they had one parked outside that evil plumbers house after he embarrassed Obama. You journalists are all the same: “We might be liberals, and we always vote for the Democrat, and we think Republicans are stupid white trash, but we’re not biased.” LOL. And by the way, Bull Connor was a Democrat and so was George Wallace, and, come to think of it, Grand Kleagle Robert Byrd still is one.
Why would a journalist lead off a question on tax policy with the idea that raising taxes will hurt the economy? Especially in this case, when it’s really just a parroted republican talking point rather then anything substantiated. What obama is doing is cutting taxes on some people and raising taxes on some people. Do those effects cancel out? Isn’t it more accurate to say that Obama is changing the tax structure rather then raising taxes? This discussion can be robust and complete, but the way you want to frame the debate makes it stupid and brainless.
The problem with journalism right now is the fact that the media is more than willing to take up talking points created by campaigns. The second Obama or McCain puts out an attack, the media runs behind them and repeats the attack in an interview. It lowers the political discourse in america and it’s what makes negative campaigning worth pursuing.
I mean, let’s go back to that tax thing, what makes you qualified to make the judgment that raising taxes in a recession is risky, or that obama’s plan in particular is risky? Nothing other then the fact that McCain said it. Did it ever occur to Gregory or yourself that it’s also risky to cut spending during a recession? Don’t play economist, don’t play campaign mouthpiece. Be journalists. They seem to be a dying breed, and you guys definitely aren’t the pedigree.
The more you Obamaton fanatics deny the Establishment media campaign for your Anointed One, the more mainstream voters detest you and your sleazy excuse for a Messiah.
Get rrady for the populist landslide, scumbags.
So you’re complaining that Katie Couric was picking on Palin because she’s unqualified to be Veep? I completely agree and I’m glad the interview went forth! It wouldn’t be as much fun picking on someone who was qualified for the office they were seeking after all.
Wolf Blitzer should ask Obama to explain why he is on tape praising the ex-PLO terrorist Rashid Kahlidi and calling for Israel to be reigned in. He should also ask him why he was friendly and asking for Joe the plumber’s vote to his face and on national TV during the debate but later he and joe Biden made fun of him in front of crowds and also mocked the amount of money plumbers make. He should also ask him why after 20 years, a marriage and baptism, he never condemned or distanced himself from Rev Wright? Why only when it was drawn to everyone’s attention and when Rev Wright said Obama gave his “race” speech because he’s just trying to get votes?
Oh, and “talboito” is brainwashed fool – he said “I believe a variant of these two questions was asked at each debate. Obama handled them admirably.”
No, Obama didn’t. Put the kool-aid down and tell your hipster ipod living on unemployment checks and Daddy’s trust-fund friends to wait outside for a moment so you can think this through since the rest of the world is a cold reality and “hope” and “change” will not pay the rent. In fact Obama never gives a direct answer to a direct and insightful question. He will give a vague answer and run off on a tangent and the reporter moves on to different question. Any reporter worth their salt, like the genius Ted Koppel, would have said, “that’s a good point Senator, but you didn’t answer my question.” No one has the guts to keep asking Obama a tough question until he answers. They’re obviously afraid of offending the “black” politician and fear being labeled a racist. I have had corporate jobs for over 15 years and almost every year I hear of a story of bosses being reluctant to discipline a lazy, incompetent, or recalcitrant employee because they are black for fear an EEOC investigation and fines.
So, “talboito” – get a clue, point the joint down, this isn’t the 60′s since most of those peace & love types are now CEO sellouts taking golden parachutes. I’m not paying for people with live with their palms up. This nation was built by people who roll up their sleeves and got to work, not by social programs that “spread the wealth.”
the terroist John McCain group funded know the facts before making stupid statements
I would love to have a true independent group or person analyze the statements made by rightie (Rubin, Limbaugh, Savage, Hannity, ect) in the media versus lefties (Olbermann, Maddows, ect.) and i would bet whatever amount I could the lefties would be found to be much more honest and truthful in their reporting of the facts.
This is a CAMPAIGN, not a daily brief. Why would anyone get specific enough about program CUTS big enough to matter, when such proclamations could alienate a significant portion of eligible voters. You are right about the press being weak and sycophantic, but your seemingly bereft analysis of campaign conduct renders moot any point you attempt to make in this rant.
look at that BS ad about a BS book on voter fraud which is much more minor than the under reported voter intimidation. The media is covering that non-issue of fraud much more than the real issue of intimidation.
the press stunk in 2004 as the let the Swift Boat Liar off the hook with minimal scrutiny.
The (apparent) success obama is having has less to do with the substance of what he is saying, since he is so adept at making entire speeches devoid of details or even a hint of specifics, but rather is almost completely due to an increasingly bold “whitewash job”, compliments of the (not so), main stream media. Even more baffling, and MUCH more alarming to me though is how many of my fellow americans have been duped by both obama’s rhetoric as well as the media’s persistant and blatant bias!
Will someone please define “The Media”, is it FOX or is it MSNBC? (Both are Kool-aid channels) If “The Media” is your only source for information, for Republicans or Democrats, then you deserve to remain ignorant.
Who here actually sits and watches congressional hearings [your government at work] on C-span? Didn’t think so…
YOU Americans make me laugh. You moan that Obama has gotten an easy ride but over here in England all we get is fox news, cnn attacking him but leaving that nut job Palin alone.
I mean come on she claims Obama is a socialist while Alaska is the most socialist state in USA, remind where she’s from again?
Her hubby belongs to a group who want Alaska to independent from USA.
She believes the dinasaurs we’re around 4000 years ago (dumb or what?).
If your daughter got raped she’d force her to have the baby.
And you lot want to vote for this idiot?
Thank God for the Internet. An interesting thing is happening out here: the main stream media is becomming irrelevant; albeit slowly. While it may not happen soon enough to save us from an Obama presidency, the death of the MSM is being previewed in the fate of the New York Times. Their circulation is dropping like a stone and they can’t cut staff quickly enough. Should there be an Obama presidency (which will be a Carter era redo on steroids) the American public will realize that they have been snookered by a once trusted media that is now nothing more than a shill for the far left. CBS, ABC and NBC will join the ranks of GM, Ford and Chrysler. Bankrupt.
This is, of course, the same press, liberal and right-wing, that accepted, without question, the reasons given by the Bush administration for the Iraq war.
There is something deeply dysfunctional about a press that accepts the professed motives and assertion of government and politicians on face value.
The issue I take with Ms. Rubin is that it becomes obvious on reading her commentary that her problem is not with a compliant and deferrential press, but that her bugbear, the so-called liberal press has failed to expose her (probably imagined complaints) about the Democratic Pqarty candidate. It is merely a repetition of the self-pitying whingeing that is the stock in trade of the right-wing media.
The US is a great country – a world-leader in most respects- however our media of all shades is second-rate – biased and partisan, but also strangely uninquiring, deferential and compliant. The more agressive and non-deferential media in other democracies like Britain and France put our news-poodles to shame. (Incidentally, the biased rantings of the Hannity’s and Gaffneys of this world are not a substitute for decent investigative reporting and incisive comment)
All this as if McCain has really had his feet put to the fire w/rspt to his membership in the “Keating 5″, why his all-too-common answers like “I will fix it” are never followed up with “How?”, why there shouldn’t be a timetable for getting out of Iraq, why he picked a running mate whose husband has been linked with a secessionist party in Alaska…
…The point is both candidates benefit from a inept media – a member of which is Jennifer Rubin…
You know, all this is just so much noise. There isn’t much more that can be said that hasn’t already been said. Barry O is a liar, John M isn’t as forceful as he should be. Oh yes there is more but that about sums it up.
The real question is what will happen when, a year from now, we find out that Barry O and Bill Ayers were actually pals, real pals; and that Barry O is in a video (not released before the election) behind Rev. Wright as he slams the USA; or that there is a paper trail that goes back to Tony Rezko. Huh? What do WE do then?
As the media has given this “kid” a pass, the “kid” will be more powerful and any investigation will be thwarted by way of threats and intimidation. What can us American citizens do then when we find out that this “kid”, Barry O, is a fake and a fabrication?
That’s more important to consider now.
If Barry gets elected, God HELP America.
Boo-Hoo! Life’s not fair! I want a re-do!
John McCain and Sarah Palin aren’t losing because of the “wicked main-stream-media.” They are losing because they offer nothing more than four more years of George Bush, who just happens to be the worst president in history. They are losing this election because you guys keep focusing on these negative, personal, false attacks while the American people are hurting. They are losing because once we got to know Sarah Palin, we found out that she is a real loser. You keep whining, we’ll keep winning!
No, actually, they’re behind because of weak minded fools who believe every lie and half truth put out by the likes of chris matthews and his ilk. If you can (marc) please give specifics on where McCain is allied with Bush. FACT: you cant, because there are very few instances where they have actually agreed in the past. You are just providing more rhetoric without substance, just like your media darling candidate does.
What Can we common Poeple do about the Bailout? Nothing.. we just have to wait and see if the company comes up and develops new cars and prototypes to please the americal consumer