Best Line of the Day

Asked at a Q-and-A session to speculate on the political future of half-term Alaska governor and failed vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, former ABC newsman Sam Donaldson had this to say:

"I don't speak ill of the dead."

Murdoch's News Vultures

If you’re like me, you’ve probably heard only vaguely about this News of the World phone-tapping scandal that’s currently blowing up in Rupert Murdoch’s face over there across the pond in Britain. I did a little checking on this yesterday and, in a nut, what went down is pretty fucking shocking and unbelievable.

I can boil it down for you with a quick explanation of why everyone is so pissed: A young schoolgirl named Milly Dowler disappeared and family and friends, fearing the worst and growing more desperate by the day, made repeated phone calls to the girl’s cell phone, all of which went unanswered, but all of which were somehow tapped by “journalists” from Murdoch’s News Corp. (the same company that owns FOX News), who were trolling for information, perhaps salacious details and probably the sound of the raw emotion of a mother or father searching for a lost child.

When the cell phone’s inbox got full, the jackals from News of the World hacked into the girl’s phone and deleted the existing messages, creating more room in the voice mailbox, leading family and friends to the [false, and thus all the more heart-breaking] assumption Milly may have been using the phone and might still be alive.

Alas, that was not the case. The girl had been kidnapped and murdered. While the case is nearly 10 years old, the killer was found and convicted last month and the phone-tapping story is only coming to light now. And it turns out Milly Dowler's family wasn't the only one violated by Murdoch's news vultures. News Corp. reporters also apparently bugged the phones of bombing victims and paid over $100,000 in bribes to London police officers for inside information on various sensational crime cases. The outrage runs deep and the Murdoch media empire is facing real problems over there in England.

And now the other shoe has dropped: After 168 years in publication, News of the World is closing up shop.

Good Lord, here's the whole horrific story on what Murdoch's malicious minions were up to. The scope of their phone-tapping malfeasant invasions of privacy is truly breathtaking, with victims ranging from the Dowler family to the loved ones of British war dead, from Members of Parliament to members of the Royal Family, from actress Sienna Miller to soccer star David Beckham. Conservative estimates say News of the World "reporters" tapped into the phones of more than 2,000 people over the years.

Inigo Montoya Dept.

I don't think that word means what Mark Halperin thinks it means...

On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” the three-hour program co-hosted by a conservative Republican former congressman, Time magazine’s Mark Halperin was asked for his assessment of President Obama’s White House press conference. “I thought he was kind of a dick yesterday,” Halperin said.

Think back to the caterwauling about the "General Betrayus" kerfuffle while you consider that one of the leading political analysts in Washington [allegedly] called the president "kind of a dick" on national television. Remember the full-throated, apoplectic cries of TREASON!!! at the slightest criticism of George W. Bush during his entire reign dictatorship smoking wreck of a presidency, then take note: Apparently it's okay to call this president "a dick" on national television.

Where Were You?

I was watching the Phillies-Mets game on ESPN and flipping around the channels during the commercial breaks when I came upon CNN, where the screen featured a "Breaking News" crawl that was short on details but heavy on the hype. The host and Wolf Blitzer kept going back and forth with the "We don't want to speculate but this is going to be BIG" angle. Wolf must've said something along those lines at least 10 or 12 times and when my viewing partner asked what it could be I joked that Obama was probably going to tell us it's okay to carry nail clippers and bottled water onto airplanes again. Ha ha!

When Wolf said, again, "This is going to be BIG, but we don't want to engage in any wild speculation like 'some other channels' are doing..." I quick switched over to FOX where, sure enough, Geraldo Rivera was jumping up and down like his hair was on fire with the announcement that "OSAMA BIN LADEN IS DEAD!!"

Turned out he was right, of course, but the contrast in journalistic styles between CNN and FOX could not have been more starkly apparent. CNN waited probably another 10 minutes before reporting that the "breaking news" -- which they still claimed to have scooped -- was OBL's death.

GOP's Version of Michael Moore: Every Punk a Lie

With James O'Keefe's recent "punking" of National Public Radio, and the Republicans' determination to use the since discredited tape to defund the news organization, it bears repeating that this O'Keefe character is the same con artist who concocted the since discredited ACORN video, the since discredited Planned Parenthood video, and who works for the conniving fraudster who concocted the since discredited Shirley Sherrod video.

In spite of the fact that each of those "videos" was exposed as a lie, what do they have in common? They each accomplished their goal, that's what. Thanks to gullible, stenographic journalism by the mainstream media, which publicized the videos far and wide but only mumbled the retraction, ACORN is no more, Planned Parenthood has lost its federal funding, Shirley Sherrod was fired (and treated so poorly that when chastened officials offered her her job back she said "no thanks"). What a disaster the whole thing was.

Now, I know what you're saying...How is it this James O'Keefe character isn't in jail, let alone free to ply his deceitful trade at the expense of so-called liberal institutions from sea to shining sea? Why is this peach-fuzzed piece of garbage still taken seriously by anyone, particularly media outlets who've been played for suckers a few too many times now.

Let's do a little comparative treatment analysis. Recall the railroading of legendary newsman Dan Rather? After it was revealed that he'd been duped into using a forged document to support the generally accepted idea that George W. Bush went AWOL when he was in the National Guard, Rather's goose was cooked. Now, few people with an open mind would argue that the basic facts of the story were not true: George W. Bush was absent without leave and short on explanations. But that one fake piece of paper, a mere scrap in a heap of evidence, ended up discrediting the whole story and bringing Dan Rather's career to a quick and ignominious end. He's still the subject of scorn and ridicule to this very day.

Contrast that with this James O'Keefe character, who's barely old enough to buy a beer but has brought down ACORN, choked off one of Planned Parenthood's key funding sources and helped push Shirley Sherrod into the private sector. And lest we let O'Keefe off the hook there, let's review two of his failed attempts at ridiculous, offensive and most likely illegal schemes.

Recall that it was O'Keefe and a couple of his fraternity brothers partners-in-crime who dressed up like telephone repairmen and tried to bug the offices of a United States senator. They got busted for that little stunt, and why they're not all in jail we'll never know. Additionally, and in perhaps the most narcissistic and nauseating put-on ever, O'Keefe plotted to "seduce" a young, up-and-coming CNN reporter by tricking her into joining him on a boat, whereupon he planned to have his way with her. The correspondent, Abbie Boudreau, sussed out that something wasn't right about the arrangement and high-tailed it out of there, posting this Youtube video from her car as she left.

For my money, the Abbie Broudreau plot is the most sickening of all, because what it lacks in class and dignity it more than makes up for in boorishness and misogyny. Depending on how far he planned to take his "seductive" ruse, he could easily have been treading into kidnapping and sexual assault territory. Happily, Abbie Boudreau is fine, although she is no longer on CNN, and if his track record is any indication, that was probably James O'Keefe's objective all along.

Twitter Journalism

It occurs to me that if the Tribune is going to give so little attention to local news items like our rally last night here in SLO (a 104 word article? Really?), the paper might as well switch over to a Twitter platform, because I can sum up their story in a Tweet:

@Trib: 100 @ SLO rally wear red to support WI unions, coll. bargaining & Gov. Brown's tax ext. plan to save skools & soc. svcs. "Not a partisan issue" sez rally org.

Video Schmideo: NPR Takedown was Bullshit

Well surprise, surprise, surprise, it now appears the right-wing smear machine's recent takedown of National Public Radio was just as big a steaming load of crap as the mythical bullshit preceding the fall of ACORN and the persecution of Shirley Sherrod.

Funny [not really] how in each of these instances, although the unctuous, dishonest, scheming tool behind the recordings is ultimately exposed as an unctuous, dishonest, scheming tool, the goal of delegitimizing a perceived ally of the Left is quickly accomplished: ACORN loses its federal funding and closes its doors; Shirley Sherrod is fired post haste and is no longer on the job helping the nation's black farmers; NPR lops off its own head, in the process giving credence to the Right's long-standing allegation that the federally-funded network is little more than an arm of the Democratic Party.

Mark Twain once said: "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes." These tales from the propaganda wars of American politics certainly show that aphorism to be true.

Amanda Marcotte breaks down how the Lie Machine works here.

Charlie Sheen

Still alive. Remarkable.

Spot the Loony

Remarkable broadcast of ABC's World New Tonight featured three separate one-on-one interviews that raised the question: Who is the most insane?

1) Moammar Qaddafi

2) Bernie Madoff

3) Charlie Sheen

Based on what we saw tonight, "Grand Wizard Master" Charlie takes the prize, followed by Qaddafi and then Madoff.

Sunday Media: Will They Get the Message on Madison?

Do you suppose anyone on any of the Sunday morning news shows will have enough of a clear-eyed understanding of the stakes in Madison to point out that the goal there -- through the elimination of the right to collective bargaining -- is to break the union?

Fair and Balanced

FOX News' evening coverage of the ongoing Madison protests included a phone interview with Republican Governor Scott Walker (the newly elected state chief executive who has proposed eliminating public employees' collective bargaining rights) and a live stand-up interview with a) the president of the Wisconsin state workers' labor union b)a high school teacher facing termination if Walker's plan goes through c)the national director of the AFL-CIO d) a high school student who organized a walk-out at his campus.

Lara Logan: Wingnut Sympathy Only Goes So Far

Over on some of the righty blogs, the wingnuts are going to town on the Lara Logan story, with all sorts of "who cares she's a liberal," "blame-the-victim" comments. Without giving them a link, we'd just like to highlight one of the more egregious examples...

As a human being, I feel very sorry for her, but at the same time, I remember what the likes of CBS and others, said about patriotic American citizens. They lied, bullied, abused, and slandered innocent people. Yet they go over to this mess that Obama(The Muslim Brotherhood operative)Clinton, Ayers, Dohrn, Soros, and others did to an American ally and this totally predictable incident happens. We reap what we sow. I only wish it would have happened to Katie Couric. [emphasis added, ed.]

Lara Logan Attack: Right Place, Wrong Time

This Lara Logan story just makes me sick. Tussling Anderson Cooper's hair is one thing, but this is real life madness.

This...is CNN.

Today's grammar atrocity, courtesy of "The Worldwide Leader in News."

Coverage

WRT media coverage in Egypt, it's interesting to note that MSNBC was on live deep into the night. Rachel Maddow was still at the desk at 10pm Pacific time -- 1am Eastern -- with reporters broadcasting live from their hotel balcony as the sun came up in Cairo. CNN stayed live at least through 9pm PDT, with Anderson Cooper and two other (beaten but unbowed) reporting from their hotel room.

FOX News on the other hand, which routinely makes fun of MSNBC for running taped programming on the weekends, went with its regular programming, which featured no live reporting from Egypt and minimal video of the events on the ground. Instead, we had Laura Inghram touting her juvenile polemic "The Obama Diaries" as "a perfect Valentine's Day gift" and Sean Hannity interviewing a "Muslim radical" in an attempt to link Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood to al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden (or something). Hannity abruptly ended the interview by calling his guest "a hateful, murderous and disgusting SOB."

Fair and Balanced

Tonight, courtesy of the fifth-column in the "liberal" lamestream mainstream media, America will hear from a Democratic President (State of the Union Address), followed by not one but two far-right Republican congresspeople (State of the Union Address Rebuttal #1 and State of the Union Address #2). Yes two rebuttals. You got that right.

Programming Note

As I flipped around the channels after the President's address last night, it occurred to me that Sean Hannity was not on the air hosting his own show. In his stead was Brett Baire(sp?), a decidedly more down-the-middle reporter (for FOX), who respectfully gave Obama his due. It was when the usually distasteful Charles Krauthammer poured effusive praise over the President's words to the nation that I sat up and said to myself, "I wonder how Hannity will react to that?" It was only then that I noticed it wasn't Hannity hosting "Hannity!" Personally, I think the ol' turkey-baster chickened out of having to man up and act responsibly.

I think these Right Wingers have been knocked back on their heels a bit by the nation's reaction to last weekend's tragic events, and they're not sure quite yet how to deal with it. Oh sure, Rush Limbaugh will never be silenced, but do you really think America wants to hear any more of Ann Coulter's particularly vile brand of bullshit?

Stick a Fork in Her....

...She's done.

"...the Arizona shootings and their aftermath will probably be remembered as the end of Palin's chances of being taken seriously as a Republican presidential candidate. She had an opportunity to rise to an occasion, and she whiffed."

Hate Radio

Today's the day we get to have to hear what the Right Wing puke funnel has to say for itself in regard to the Arizona shootings. Rush/O'Reilly/Hannity/Beck...hold on to your hats, this ought to be good.

Still Not Getting It

I know I swore off the Sunday morning news shows but, much like it's hard to look away from a car wreck or stop fiddling with a sore tooth, I sometimes can't help myself.

It's tough to describe just how nauseating I found the round-table discussion on yesterday's Meet the Press.

Populated by out-of-touch, inside-the-Beltway, dusty old septuagenarians Tom Brokaw, Peggy Noonan, Doris Kearns Goodwin and Bob Woodward, this quartet of blue-haired mid-20th century luminaries, along with unctuous Tim Russert-wannabe host David Gregory, were discussing the federal budget deficit and the looming "austerity" measures that may be necessary to remedy the situation when Noonan came out with this earnest gem (paraphrasing):

Well, we're just going to have to convince the American people that "everyone needs a haircut."

She went on to say [inaccurately] 80% of the every federal dollar goes toward "entitlement spending" and hinted that cuts to Social Security and Medicare are a near certainty. Remember, these comments came less than two weeks after the President and Congress passed a tax cut bill that conservative estimates say will add more than $700-billion to the deficit over the next 10 years.

Well, there's your haircut.