Blue Spot

Netroots Try to Label Fox News as Opinion - The Caucus - Politics - New York Times Blog

It may be the blogosphere’s equivalent of the scarlet letter, and the organizers of Netroots Nation, a gathering of liberal bloggers that is taking place this week, say they will be more than happy to pin it on Fox News.

Planners of the conference want to force representatives of the cable news network to wear credentials identifying them as opinion media rather than providing them with the regular press passes other news outlets will receive.

“Fox News calls itself fair and balanced, but it’s not,” Josh Orton, political director for Netroots said in an interview. He accused the network, which is popular among conservatives, of misrepresenting itself.
The Netroots, however, may not get their way.

A spokeswoman for Fox News said the network would not be sending anyone to cover the four-day conference that kicked off in Austin, Texas, on Thursday.

But if anyone from the network shows up, Mr. Orton said they would have to wear a press pass with the words “Opinion Media” printed on it. The credential would not restrict Fox’s ability to cover the conference, but Mr. Orton said that journalists from other media organizations like Air America, the liberal radio network, and the National Review, a conservative journal, would receive regular credentials. The difference, Mr. Orton said, is that those outlets are “explicitly progressive or explicitly conservative. They don’t have a branding problem.”

Fox News has long been a lightning rod for liberal criticism, especially in the opinion-charged world of blogs, and the move by organizers to, as they put it, re-brand Fox News is just another sign of continuing friction. The idea to label Fox journalists as opinion media is, in fact, not a new one. It’s been tossed around on blogs, and MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann also floated the idea on his show last summer.

I totally agree with this, but while we're at it, can we give the same "opinion media" passes to Keith Olbermann and Chris Mathews?

Labels: Fox propaganda, Media, Media bias, Netroots, Olbermann

Breaking News: Tony Snow dies; ex-Bush press secretary was 53 | Top of the Ticket | Los Angeles Times

After a long, candid and public battle with colon cancer, former White House press secretary and television-radio host Tony Snow died early this morning.

Snow died about 2 a.m. Eastern in Georgetown University Hospital. Snow was 53 and is survived by his wife Jill Ellen Walker and their three children. Kendall, Robbie, and Kristi.

Snow previously served as chief speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush and as a frequent host on the Fox News Channel on 'Fox News Sunday,' 'Weekend Live' and 'The O'Reilly Factor.'

He also guest-hosted for Rush Limbaugh and had his own radio talk-show.

Last September after 17 months in the White House job, Snow retired as President George W. Bush's third press secretary, saying with his cancer he needed to earn more for his family than the job's $168,000 salary. He was succeeded by Dana Perino.

He said he left the press secretary job with regret, calling it "the most exciting, intellectually aerobic job I'm ever going to have."

In an early morning statement issued from his weekend retreat at Camp David, President Bush said he and Laura were "deeply saddened."

"America has lost a devoted public servant and a man of character," the president said. "It was a joy to watch Tony at the podium each day. He brought wit, grace, and a great love of country to his work."

Popular and inevitably cheerful, even during his draining chemotherapy treatments, Snow was well-liked among the White House press corps and with the smooth practice of a broadcaster seemed to genuinely enjoy the public sparring with media and explaining his boss's positions.

Labels: Media, White House press

McCain campaign gets greedy - War Room - Salon.com

With the assistance of a press corps willing to play along, the McCain campaign scored a hit Monday, feigning outrage and manufacturing a controversy out of Wesley Clark's questions on John McCain's presidential qualifications. It involved twisting the words of a four-star general a bit, and a pliant press corps willing to redefine the word "attack," but the McCain/GOP spin machine was in high dudgeon and it got precisely the result it was looking for.

This is fascinating being that Obama greatly benefited from "a press corps willing to play along," and "a pliant press corps willing to redefine the word 'attack'" during the campaign against Hillary. Now the shoe is on the other foot and you're going to start seeing pro-Obama bloggers and "journalists" complain about unfair treatment since he'll actually get scrutinized the way he should have long ago.

Labels: General Election 2008, McCain, Media, Media bias, Obama supporters

Happy Father's Day to all. Farewell to the great Tim Russert. I was sometimes a critic, but I never missed his show.

Labels: Journalists, Media

Labels: Hillary-haters, Media, Media bias, sexism

Get used to saying it because the Democrats have just chosen the wrong nominee. Obama will not win in November. Not unless him and his supporters do some major damage control with Clinton supporters, which would mean reaching out to them in a way they seem incapable of.

The Obama supporters who think Clinton played dirty, haven't seen anything yet. Obama's empty record will finally be in the spotlight. He will have to be much clearer on how he intends to bring change, especially to the voters in middle and rural America. He will now have to puth forth credible, detailed plans rather than rely on lofty themes and buzz words. Good plans, what a concept!

There are already millions of Clinton supporters who have vowed not to vote for Obama. Some of them will not vote for him even if Hillary is on the ticket. There has been too much damage done by his surrogates, his supporters, the media and himself. Obama has a lot of work to do to win over Clinton's army. Whatever he does now will probably be received as disingenuous and way too late.

McCain has some work to do as well. If he can recapture the same spirit of his 2000 campaign then it will be no contest. This is doubtful. He's alligned himself to Bush way too many times since then. However, if he can win over many of Clinton's supporters and enough of the more conservative independents, he will be our next president.

If Hillary is picked as Obama's running mate, then it's hard to see how he loses. However, I hope to God she doesn't choose to go this route if she is offered the spot. I think there are better opportunities ahead for her, and she would be far more effective in a different role.

So for all the pundits and Obama supporters trashing Hillary for not conceding tonight, I say, fuck off already and get used to saying it, "President McCain."

Labels: Election 2008, Hillary, Hillary-haters, McCain, Media, Media bias, Obama, Obama supporters

On Sunday's "This Week w/George Stephanopoulos," Howard Dean blasts the main stream media on the "enormous amount of sexism in this campaign." He adds that there has been major networks that have featured "numerous, outrageous comments, that if the words were reversed and the comments were about race, the people would have been fired."

Labels: DNC, Election 2008, Howard Dean, Media, sexism

Labels: Election 2008, Hillary-haters, Media, Media bias, sexism

"Reliable Sources" panel including Carol Costello, Blanquita Cullum and Marie Cocco discuss the media in the mysogony.

h/t Ameican Girl in Italy.

Labels: Hillary-haters, Media, Obama supporters, sexism

Dangerous Liaison Even Obama supporters admit there's a pro-Obama bias at MSNBC. Their reputation is finally becoming mainstream.

And this was only the latest example of the network's undeniable Obama favoritism. David Shuster's comment about the Clintons' "pimping out" their daughter, Chelsea, was clearly boneheaded, but, as Clinton campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson pointed out, it caused such a stir among Clintonites because it highlighted the rest of the network's anti-Hillary coverage. Now, that's not to say that their slant has been bad for business; to the contrary. And it has certainly made for some enjoyable television--Matthews is often supremely engaging (who, after all, does not enjoy watching someone exclaim that seeing Obama speak gives him a "thrill going up my leg"), and however withering he can be, Olbermann is frequently hilarious. But the network's coverage has helped create a bubble around Obama supporters that in the end is neither healthy nor desirable.


In fact, MSNBC's bias has actually hurt the Illinois senator. After all, it was the Obama cheerleading from MSNBC (among others) that helped lead to Clinton's New Hampshire comeback. And even if you think (as I do) that the Clintons have made too big of a deal out of the "sexist" and "unfair" portrayal their candidate has received in the press, if you watch enough MSNBC, you realize that their claim isn't without truth. How could you believe otherwise when Olbermann, with his trademark hauteur, told Hillary that "voluntarily or inadvertently, you are still awash in this filth [of the campaign]," or when Matthews took such self-evident glee in trouncing Clinton in between the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary? Similarly now, by mocking Clinton's decision to stay in the race, Olbermann has only bolstered her argument that "the boys" are trying to push her out. And finally, on a number of primary nights, but most notably in Pennsylvania and Ohio/Texas, MSNBC has become so excited by early exit polls that it has raised expectations that Obama ultimately could not live up to.

The problem here is that when supposedly "straight" news anchors phrase questions in leading ways, and report one campaign's spin as if it were fact, it distorts what is actually going on in the campaign--even for those of us who make a living obsessing over and writing about politics. And when anchormen themselves shill for Obama, the distinction between his talking points and the truth grows even blurrier still. So, as much as I find MSNBC entertaining, their creation of a parallel, pro-Obama universe is the type of thing I'd expect of Fox. That's when I know it's time to change the channel.

Isaac Chotiner is a frequent contributor to The New Republic.

h/t to Taylor Marsh

Labels: Election 2008, Hillary-haters, Media, Media bias, Obama supporters

Labels: Election 2008, Hillary-haters, Media, Media bias, Obama supporters, sexism

Media hype: How small stories become big news - John F. Harris - Politico.com

The signature defect of modern political journalism is that it has shredded the ideal of proportionality.

Important stories, sometimes the product of months of serious reporting, that in an earlier era would have captured the attention of the entire political-media community and even redirected the course of a presidential campaign, these days can disappear with barely a whisper.

Trivial stories—the kind that are tailor-made for forwarding to your brother-in-law or college roommate with a wisecracking note at the top—can dominate the campaign narrative for days.

Who can guess what stories will cause the media machine to rev up its hype jets?

Actually, I have gotten pretty good at guessing which ones will. So have many of my colleagues and a generation of political operatives.

This weekend’s uproar over Hillary Clinton invoking the assassination of Robert Kennedy as rationale for continuing her presidential campaign is an especially vivid example of modern journalism as hyperkinetic child—overstimulated by speed and hunger for a head-turning angle that will draw an audience.

The truth about what Clinton said—and any fair-minded appraisal of what she meant—was entirely beside the point.

Her comment was news by any standard. But it was only big news when wrested from context and set aflame by a news media more concerned with being interesting and provocative than in being relevant or serious. Thus, the story made the front page of the New York Times, was the lead story of the Washington Post, and got prominent treatment on the evening news on ABC, CBS, and NBC.

It would be a big story if Clinton said something like this: “Hey, I know it looks bad for me now. But, think about it. Obama could get shot and I’d get to be the nominee after all.”

It is a small story if Clinton said something like this: “Everyone talks like May is incredibly late, but by historical standards it is not. Think of all the famous milestones in presidential races that have taken place during June.”

It seems pretty obvious that the latter is what Clinton meant, and not too far from what she actually said. It was not surprising that the Argus Leader’s executive editor, Randall Beck, put out a statement saying, “Her reference to Mr. Kennedy’s assassination appeared to focus on the time line of his primary candidacy and not the assassination itself.”

Labels: Clueless Pundits, Election 2008, Hillary, Hillary-haters, Media, Media bias, Obama supporters

Clinton wins young voters 18-29 in KY, 54%-41% according to CNN. 30 points worse for Obama than he did in OR. If Obama is the nominee, KY voters will vote 42% for McCain over 33% for Obama. 23% said they would not vote (souce=Bill Schneider, CNN).

A lot of voters are just not jumping on the bandwagon yet.

From MSNBC:
Results from an exit poll conducted in Kentucky's Democratic presidential primary Tuesday and a phone poll during the past week in Oregon's vote-by-mail primary.

Keys to Clinton win in Kentucky
The demographic makeup of Kentucky's Democratic primary electorate was fairly similar to West Virginia's - overwhelmingly white, with substantial numbers of lesser-educated, lower-income voters - and that helped Hillary Rodham Clinton to a comparably lopsided victory over Barack Obama.
Clinton won two-thirds of women and nearly as many men; 7 in 10 whites, who made up nearly 90 percent of Kentucky's electorate; and roughly 60 percent or more of all voters over age 30. Clinton also prevailed among all income and education categories, with particularly large margins among those at the lower end of both scales.

Obama ran nearly even with Clinton among voters under age 30 and may have edged her out among self-described independents, who were about 1 in 10 voters in the Kentucky Democratic primary. He won a majority among those who most valued change as a candidate attribute, but about a quarter cited experience, and Clinton won 9 in 10 of them.

One of the few other groups in which Obama was competitive was those who thought Clinton's proposal to suspend the federal gasoline tax this summer was a bad idea.

Kentucky has one of the least liberal electorates out of 33 competitive Democratic primaries in which exit polls were conducted this year - only about a third of voters called themselves liberal - and that, too, worked in Clinton's favor. She ran strongest among conservatives and moderates; Obama tends to do better among liberals.

Ideological extremes
In contrast to Kentucky, Oregon's was among the most liberal Democratic electorates to date, with close to 6 in 10 voters in its vote-by-mail primary calling themselves liberal.

Issue differences
Kentucky continued a recent trend in Democratic primaries with voters overwhelmingly picking the economy when given three choices for the most important issue facing the country. Oregon defied that trend. About two-thirds of Democratic voters in Kentucky said the economy was the top issue, about 20 percent picked the Iraq war, and half as many said health care. In Oregon, fewer than half picked the economy, 3 in 10 said Iraq, and 2 in 10 said health care.
Voters in Kentucky were a bit more likely than in Oregon to say the economic slowdown has affected them and their families a great deal. Kentucky Democrats also were more likely than their Oregon counterparts to say it's a good idea to suspend the federal gas tax this summer - an idea Clinton has promoted and Obama has criticized.

Keeping hope alive ... or not
As Obama has built a daunting lead among convention delegates, his own supporters in Kentucky and Oregon were nearly unanimous in thinking he will secure the Democratic nomination. Many Clinton voters maintained hope for their candidate, but substantial numbers acknowledged Obama as the likely nominee - half of Clinton voters in Oregon and a third in Kentucky said Obama will win the nomination.

Timing is everything
All balloting was by mail in Oregon's primary, and the phone poll asked when people voted or planned to. The survey found Clinton ran stronger among those who voted earlier, while Obama ran better among those who mailed or delivered their ballots closer to Election Day.
In Kentucky, 3 in 4 voters said they made up their minds more than a month ago.

John Edwards
Nearly 2 in 10 Kentucky Democratic voters said John Edwards' endorsement of Obama was a very important factor in their vote, and nearly 3 in 10 said it was somewhat important. The question wasn't asked in Oregon, where the phone poll began before Edwards' announcement.

Democratic potpourri
As usual for this Democratic primary season, Clinton tended to run better in both states among older voters, those with lower incomes and less education, and those in rural areas, while Obama's strengths included the young, urban, wealthier and better-educated voters.

Labels: Election 2008, Hillary, Media, Terry McAuliffe

In case you missed it, here's the first part of the Terry McAuliffe interview on Meet the Press.

Labels: Election 2008, Hillary, Media, Terry McAuliffe

I don't usually find myself agreeing with Leslie Sanchez, but tonight she made some sense. Here she is taking on 2 Dems on how Obama has benefitted from a very generous press. TNR's Michael Crowley, regurgitates the usual Obama talking points. Dem strategist Keith Boykins is his tag-team partner here.

Labels: Election 2008, McCain, Media, Media bias, Obama

It's startling how biased the CNN coverage has been tonight. I know this is nothing new, but tonight CNN has been especially disgusting. It's like watching a panel of juvenile DKos bloggers. From Anderson Cooper ridiculing Lanny Davis to Jamaal Simmons joking about Florida and Michigan, to Toobin's snarky attacks, even questioning whether Hillary actually raised $10 million after the PA victory. Clinton support was limited to Begala and Lanny Davis, who both got limited time to speak.

I think it's time we force CNN to label Brazille and Martin as Obama supporters. Even Campbell Brown called Brazille out tonight for her obvious bias. Here's an interesting and testy exchange between Begala, an admitted Clinton supporter, and closet Obama supporter, Donna Brazille. Begala took exception to Brazille's continual defense of Obama and her insinuation that Obama is more able to bring people together, thus ignoring Clinton's coalitions.

Labels: Clueless Pundits, Election 2008, Media, Media bias

Political Punch

Forgoing for a moment the dirty trick of the doctored clip from “The War Room,” which falsely had Mickey Kantor using a racial slur, the filmmaker behind the documentary has posted the clip on his Web site to clarify that other point of confusion -- what Kantor was referring to when he cursed. (An apparent source of confusion since the movie came out and some newspaper writers thought he was cursing Indianans. See previous post for that.)

Filmmakers Chris Hegedus and D A Pennebaker write: "We would like to respond to some erroneous statements made today about our film, THE WAR ROOM. These statements alleged certain remarks to Mickey Kantor that simply are not true. The transcript of the scene in question confirms this."

Labels: Election 2008, Hillary, Media, personal attacks - mudslingling

Is there anybody on TV right now, more biased toward Obama than Rachel Maddow? Now, I know Keith Olbermann is Obama's biggest mouth piece, but Maddow's reaction toward negative Obama stories is so visceral and over the top, it makes you wonder if she's a pundit or an Obama campaign operative.

Here's an exchange from yesterday's "Race For The White House":

SHUSTER: Rachel Maddow, Jay Carney says he wasn‘t angry enough. I thought he was exceptionally angry, especially when he talked about how Reverend Wright has taken up three or four consecutive days in the middle of this major debate. Was he not angry enough for you.

MADDOW: I thought he seemed angry. As I said before, so far Barack Obama has said—and I‘ve made notes of it as he‘s done it—he vehemently disagrees with him. He strongly condemns him. He categorically denounces him. He rejects him outright. Today we got that he‘s appalled by him, that he‘s outraged by him.

I find it incredible that we‘re all sitting here going, why won‘t the Jeremiah Wright controversy go away. You know what, today, John McCain unveiled his health care plan. We got three different statements, three different policies on gas prices. We got the president of the United States making a huge economic speech and speaking to reporters for 40 minutes. We have got four U.S. soldiers who are announced to have been killed in Iraq yesterday.

What else has to happen in the news to push Jeremiah Wright out of the headlines before we do it for six straight headlines on every politics show in the country? This is all we‘re capable of talking about.

I've never seen her have this kind of reaction when the negative stories were about Hillary. She's actually counting the news cycles here. Unbelievable!

Labels: Clueless Pundits, Election 2008, Media, Obama, Obama supporters

Labels: Fox propaganda, Media, Netroots, Obama, Obama supporters

Obama's 'mainstream' friends - The Boston Globe

Is this Obama's idea of "respectable" and "mainstream" political thinking? If so, doesn't that tell us something about his judgment and standards?

In Chicago the other day, radio producer Guy Benson discovered video recordings of Ayers and Dohrn speaking at a reunion of antiwar radicals in November 2007. To live in the United States, Dohrn told the group, is to be "inside the heart of the monster" that is such a "purveyor of violence in the world." Ayers denounced America as an imperial warmonger steeped in "jingoistic patriotism, unprecedented and unapologetic military expansion, white supremacy . . . attacks on women and girls, violent attacks, growing surveillance in every sphere of our lives, on and on and on."

Even if Obama doesn't personally believe these things, is it really "tired tripe" to ask why he seems so comfortable in the company of people who do? Is it really "extremely stupid politics" to wonder whether such people might play a role in an Obama administration? Rather than slam the few journalists who raise such questions, might it not behoove others in the media to follow suit?

Labels: Election 2008, Media, Obama, Terrorism

On Hardball, Matthews discusses Bill Moyers' interview with Rev. Wright. That'll be a must-see tomorrow. It seems like Wright is saying that Obama's recent criticism of Wright's remarks was just political rhetoric. There's no way this will go away if Obama faces the GOP as our nominee.

At the end of the clip, Matthews pays tribute to Hillary. Wow...are we looking at a changed man? I doubt it, but if Hillary keeps winning, maybe we'll be seeing more of this.

Labels: Chris Matthews, Cultural issues, Media, Moyers, Rev. Wright

Lou Dobbs, one of the few making at least a little sense in recent days, makes the point that although Clinton had a big victory, many are still calling for her to leave the race, or say she can't win.

Labels: Clueless Pundits, Election 2008, Hillary, Lou Dobbs, Media

Media Matters - For Chris Matthews, misogyny pays Great article from last Wed. with some great examples of sexist behaviour, especially from the pigs at MSNBC.

Matthews has harvested a bumper crop of outrageous remarks during this extended primary season. Specifically, fueled by his obsession with the Clintons (he can't recall attending a single Beltway party where the couple has not been discussed), Matthews has unleashed a flood of sexist commentary.

On that front, of course, the Hardball host has not been alone. This election season, we've seen a cavalcade of white, middle-age men express their deep, personal contempt for the first serious female contender for the White House. Contempt, of course, that has nothing to do with Sen. Hillary Clinton's policies or her beliefs. Instead, it's been an oddly personal disdain dressed up as political analysis.

The way Mike Barnicle on MSNBC said Clinton "look[ed] like everyone's first wife standing outside a probate court." The way Bill Kristol on Fox News said that among the only people supporting Hillary Clinton were white women, and "[w]hite women are a problem, that's, you know -- we all live with that." The way CNN's Jack Cafferty likened Clinton to "a scolding mother, talking down to a child." The way Fox News' Neil Cavuto suggested Clinton was "trying to run away from this tough, kind of bitchy image." The way MSNBC's Tucker Carlson announced that "when [Clinton] comes on television, I involuntarily cross my legs." The way Christopher Hitchens on CNBC described Clinton as being "sort of alternately soppy and bitchy.'"

That's all taken place in open view. And while a blog swarm did engulf Matthews in January, followed by a forced, pseudo-apology by the host -- and his attacks did prompt some women activists to carry picket signs outside the MSNBC studios -- the openly sexist comments have produced very few condemnations from within the industry and even less soul-searching from the (mostly male) press corps. In fact, in Matthews' case, the sexist outbursts have helped propel his career. That's how he landed on the cover of the Times magazine.

Labels: Election 2008, Hillary, Media, sexism

Clinton, Obama say the other is being negative | Politics | Reuters Of course, if Obama had picked up this endorsement, it would be on the front page along with all the other positive headlines you see about Obama. The lovefest continues.

Clinton, who with her husband former President Bill Clinton were the subjects of many conservative investigations when they first entered the White House in 1993, was endorsed on Sunday by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review whose publisher, Richard Mellon Scaife, funded many of those probes.

The Tribune-Review mentioned Clinton's record and experience in making the choice in the Democratic vote, but also cited her willingness to sit down with the newspaper's editorial board.

"Clinton's decision to sit down with the Trib was courageous, given our long-standing criticism of her," the paper said. "That is no small matter. Political courage is essential in a president. Clinton has demonstrated it. Obama has not."

Labels: Election 2008, Hillary, Media, Pennsylvania

Larry Kudlow on Barack Obama and Tax Policy on NRO Financial

It’s rather amusing watching the liberal media launch a full-scale attack on George Stephanopoulos and Charles Gibson, with General Tom Shales of the Washington Post leading the charge. ABC’s Stephanopoulos and Gibson had the audacity to ask Obama some tough questions during the Democratic debate Tuesday night. Challenge Obama with well-informed questions on tax policy and politics? Wound the media favorite? How dare they?

The fallout is fascinating. With members of the mainstream liberal media lunging at each others throats, it’s kind of like watching Hillary and Obama go at it.

But here’s the deal: During the debate, Obama bungled his answers on tax policy, big time. Period. End of sentence. End of story. To my liberal friends in the media, all I can say is: Get over it. Your guy has a very poor grasp of basic economic principles.

First off, you don’t raise taxes during a recession. That’s a no-brainer. Second, doubling the capital-gains tax rate will affect Americans up and down the income ladder, not just rich hedge-fund managers. In addition, capital-gains tax cuts are self-financing, and they stimulate jobs and the economy. You want to raise budget revenues and spark economic growth? Cut the cap-gains tax rate. That’s what history shows.

The Wall Street Journal’s Steve Moore points out that in 2005, almost half of all tax returns reporting capital gains came from households with incomes under $50,000, while more than three-quarters came from households earning less than $100,000.

Obama also proposed uncapping the payroll tax, another blunder that will hit people up and down the income ladder. While Obama pledges tax hikes only for folks earning more that $200,000 a year, his tax hike on payrolls would actually slam middle-income earners. The cap on wages subject to the payroll tax is presently $102,000. By eliminating that cap Obama will be soaking veteran firemen, cops, teachers, and health-service workers, along with a variety of other occupations.

Labels: Debates, Economy, Election 2008, Media, Obama

A media critic by the name of Gene Weingarten was recently on an NPR episode of On The Media and didn't have anything nice to say about Mr. Olbermann.

BOB GARFIELD: Mm. Now, you identify yourself as a card-carrying liberal in the piece, but the extremity is not confined to the political right.

GENE WEINGARTEN: No. It was mostly confined to the political right, until I had the honor of listening to Keith Olbermann. I only barely knew what Olbermann was up to, but he was as over the top as anyone else in the opposite direction. He was busy calling George Bush a fascist and comparing his stance on this relatively minor issue to the Alien and Sedition Act. He was simply a sputtering lunatic, and I hadn't been ready to expect that.

h/t to bayareavoter over at Taylor Marsh.

Labels: Media, Olbermann

Click on image for a larger view of comments (you may have to click on larger pic to zoom).

There's a scathing article by Carl Bernstein posted at ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/04/12/carl-bernstein-what-a-hillary-clinton-presidency-look-like/. My pro-Hillary comment has been in the moseration stage for the last two hours while comments attacking Hillary are going right through. Hmmm...very interesting.

Labels: Clueless Pundits, Election 2008, Hillary, Media

On CNN's Washington Journal a very articulate FL caller addresses Obama's latest remarks and the attempted spin by Obama and the media.

Labels: Cultural issues, Election 2008, Media, Obama

Hillary supporters from all over the country gathered in front of the Today Show at Rockefeller Plaza in NYC yesterday morning. There was a nice turnout considering this was a purely grassroots, word-of-mouth organized event put on by HillaryClintonForum.net/. Staff from Hillaryspeaksforme.com were in attendance. Also, Bill O'Reilly's staff was there taking video. I would not be surprised to see some footage on his show on Monday. This clip runs a little over half an hour. Taylor Marsh gets a big shout-out from a supporter for helping to spread the word and for all her support of Hillary. No love for Keith Olbermann or Randi Rhodes here.

Labels: Election 2008, Grassroots, Hillary, Media, protests

So you're an Obama supporter and say "give me a break...what bias"? Well take a look at this video and you'll see how blatantly sexist and biased the "main stream media" has been.

Labels: Election 2008, Hillary, Media

Chris Matthews - Hardball - Profile - New York Times
An interesting take on the behind-the-scenes relationships at MSNBC. Chris is portrayed as the sexist, pompous jerk that we see on the show, with an inflated sense of self-importance. However, the article is well balanced and touches on the rivalries with the other anchors. In particular, it shows the contrasts between him and the other Hillary-hater, Keith Olbermann.

Whenever Chris Matthews says something he likes, which happens a lot, he repeats it often and at volumes suggesting a speaker who feels insufficiently listened to at times. “Tim Russert finally reeled the big marlin into the boat tonight,” Matthews yelled — nine times, on and off the air, after a Democratic debate that Russert moderated with Brian Williams in late February at Cleveland State University. Matthews believed that Russert (the fisherman) had finally succeeded in getting Hillary Clinton (the marlin) to admit that she was wrong to vote in favor of the Iraq war resolution in 2002. “We’ve been trolling for that marlin for what, a year now?” Matthews said to Russert.

Comparing Hillary Rodham Clinton to a big flopping fish will do nothing to stop criticism — from Clinton’s presidential campaign, among others — that Matthews and his network, MSNBC, have treated the former first lady unfairly. But this didn’t keep Matthews from bludgeoning the marlin line to death in the postdebate “spin room.” “Russert caught the marlin; he got the marlin,” Matthews shouted to a school of downcast reporters who had been hanging on every canned word of Clinton’s chief campaign strategist, Mark Penn.

The spin room is a modern political-media marvel whose full-on uselessness is perfectly conveyed by its name, but Matthews appeared in his element. He wore a dreamy smile, walking around, signing autographs. As he went, Matthews seemed compelled to give his “take,” which is how he describes his job each night at 5 and 7, Eastern time, on “Hardball” — “giving my take.”

h/t to SusanUnPC at NO QUARTER.

Labels: Clueless Pundits, Media

Go to http://www.hillaryclintonforum.net/ for more info. See you there!

Labels: Election 2008, Grassroots, Local, Media

h/t to Fleaflicker @ NO QUARTER

This is must-see! Lou Dobbs really nails it and highlights non-partisan evidence of bias against Hillary and Lanny Davis points out the double standard applied to the campaign.

Labels: Clueless Pundits, Election 2008, Hillary, Lou Dobbs, Media

Well it looks like your're hearing it all over the place now. I just heard this garbage on ABC. To Hillary supporters, all I can tell you is that this is just a full-force blitz by Obama supporters to suppress the turnout in PA (thus preventing a blowout) and the rest of the remaining contests. Here's an incredible example of what some groups are trying to do. A group headed by Michael Fisher and calling itself the "afrosphere's" Committee to Unite the Democratic Party has started an online petition calling for Hillary to "concede defeat and support the democratic presidential ticket". Among some of the reasons they list on their web page:

(1) The Democratic Party base has spoken. The delegate count shows that Senator Hillary Clinton cannot win the nomination on the strength of earned delegates, based on the will of the voters.

That's funny considering that Obama can't win on the strength of earned delegates either.

(3) This divisiveness is regrettable because, via the presidential candidacy of Senator Obama, the vast majority of African-Americans stand united with millions of white Americans and Americans of all colors, genders, ethnicities and religious backgrounds, erasing divisions to implement a program of Democratic change.

This is also curious as Hillary also has support across the spectrum including a majority of the Latino population, the Gay community, millions of poor working-class and blue collar voters, as well as people of all religious backgrounds.

(6) Mrs. Clinton must wholeheartedly support the winner of the nomination, who has earned the most delegates, and devote herself honestly and enthusiastically to defeating Republican electoral hopes in 2008, not attacking Democratic politicians and Democratic constituencies.

This is down right hypocritical considering the next reason.

(7) Should the Democratic Party leadership nullify the people's votes by giving Mrs. Clinton the nomination, despite the popular will as represented by earned delegates, we would then call upon African-American voters and all Democratic Party constituencies and supporters to withhold their support from a Hillary Clinton candidacy in November. We have survived eight years under President Bush and, if compelled to do so, we will survive four years under a President McCain. However, we cannot and will NOT survive the nullification of our most hard-won right - our votes.

OK, first of all, tell that to the people of MI and FL. Another thing is...really?!? You would really support McCain by not voting for Hillay? Considering this group says it's part of the "afrosphere", I'm going to assume that MLK Day is important to them as it is to me as well. Why would you then go ahead and support a candidate who opposed the creation of this special day? The man who McCain idolized, Ronald Reagan, also opposed the creation of the holiday. In fact, the holiday was not recognized in McCain's state of Arizona until the year 2000. Would you really vote against a Democrat who has a record of helping African-American causes and vote for a candidate who admits to the mistake above and supported the display of the confederate flag atop the SC Statehouse in 2000 due to political pressure. All I can say is, be careful what you wish for.

The national polls still show the race just about even. For all those people yelling about "the rules", I want to see if they bring up the rules if the momentum shifts and the super-delegates decide to vote for Hillary, which the rules state they can do if they feel she would be a better candidate against McCain. The best way for us to be unified as Dems is to let the process continue and have every state be heard.

I hate sports analogies, since they remind me of Chris Matthews. However, (here it goes) can you imagine everybody calling for the Red Sox to quit in 2000, for the good of baseball, because they were down 3 games? What a series we would have missed.

You can e-mail the editor of the petition, Francis L. Holland, at francislholland@yahoo.com

Labels: African-American issues, Clueless Pundits, Comment, Election 2008, Hillary, Media, MLK