Shhhhh....The White House Press Corpse Is Trying to Sleep!

~another article about the inept US Press...

Bush Gets His Oil & Sistani Gets His God.

By Chris Floyd

02/11/05 - - The hoary adage that "there are none so blind as those who will not see" should be carved in stone at the National Press Club in Washington. Surely there can be no better motto for the cozy clubhouse of America's media mavens, who seem preternaturally incapable of recognizing the truth -- even when it stands before them, monstrous and unavoidable, like a giant Cyclops smeared with blood.
continue~
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/2/12/22342/6642

An Otter Country Heard From
(a letter from abroad)

-----------

Dear Dick,

How are things going with you folks over there? There's nothing going on with us folks over here. And I do mean nothing. It's just more of the same old same old. Except that there's less of it than there used to be.

You remember me telling you about our all-night poker games down at Bubba's Stump 'N' Bump? We all pretty much hang out at Bubba's, because it's his stump and he's got the the only game in town. We don't actually call him "Bubba," though. Not to his face, anyway. Can't. Won't. Wouldn't be prudent.

Bubba can be a real bear to be around sometimes, even when he has had his beauty sleep. But thanks to all that global warring, er, warming stuff they keep warning us about, the weather here has been unseasonably warm all winter. That keeps Bubba from hibernating for more than a week or two at a time, and he keeps getting up on the wrong side of the cave when he does wake up. So Bubba's kind of cranky these days.

Which is why we're extra careful never to call him "Bubba" to his face. He doesn't like that nickname at all. He says it makes people think that he's just another rube from the sticks. So we always call him "Bobby Lee" instead. And every now and then we tack on a little "Sir, yes, sir!" afterwards, just to be on the safe side. Because you know how bears can get if they think somebody's disrespecting them.

The reason that there's less than nothing happening over here is that we can't play our all-night poker games any more. What with us being quadrupeds, and most of us having pretty short legs at that, we need at least six players per game, preferably more. We need to have enough players to go all the way around that stump if we're going to pull off the old pass-the-ace-to-your-partner-with-your-back-paw trick. You know, like the little dogs do in those black velvet paintings you have over there.

But now there's not enough of us left for that. And it's just not right if there's not enough left, which you already know since you live in Washington. We don't have even six decent poker players left around here, much less more. We do have an otter and we still have a bear. But we seem to be missing a pig, and a goat, and a wolf, and a whole lot of sheep.

I"m not too worried about that pig, truth be told. I don't know for sure where Karl is, but he's probably out roving around somewhere looking for deeper mud to wallow in. The goat, though -- that's another kettle of fish. You see, Rummie took the sheep and marched them off into the boonies with him the other day. They'd better be careful, too, because wherever Rummie goes, Wolfie will be skulking around somewhere nearby. And you know how it is with Wolfie and sheep. He's got "issues."

But anyway, this whole thing happened because of a little chimp that showed up looking for a job. He had one of those rube accents, you know, like he's the one who should have been called Bubba. And Rummie and the chimp got to be good friends real quickly, even though me and Bobby Lee and almost but not quite half the sheep didn't care for him at all.

We invited him to come down and play all-night poker with us anyway, just to be polite, but he wasn't interested in that. He had own little game to play, something he called "Texas Hold 'Em", and he was one of those types that always expects the sheep to play along with him no matter what. It must have been a pretty complicated game, because the chimp had even gotten some pal of his named Gonzo to write out a set of special rules just for his version of the game.

Anyway, the chimp taught Rummie how to play this Texas Hold 'Em game of his, and then they had to teach the sheep how to play it too. Which took them a while, because sheep are notoriously thick-headed and they can't play cards worth a darn. But eventually they got things more or less figured out.

It's a funny thing about those special rules the chimp had made for him, though. Yesterday a couple of the sheep showed back up claiming that he'd conned them into playing Texas Hold 'Em before they were ready and without proper training, but that they were still sure they'd been following the special rules correctly even though they'd never seen or heard about them.

Anyway, the chimp finally got Rummie and the sheep ready to start playing that Texas Hold 'Em game of his. They couldn't get it going, though. Maybe those sheep didn't have enough left to be right either. And they must have been missing some of the cards or something. At least it sure looked to me and Bobby Lee like they weren't playing with a full deck.

I guess were right about them missing some cards, because after a few minutes I overheard Rummie telling one of the sheep to go and get some more for them to use. He also told the sheep to stop for a snack on the way back. At least I think that's what he said. It's hard to understand anything Rummie says because he's always talking out of both sides of his mouth.

I did hear another sheep bleat out "Texas Hold 'Em!" and then the first one asked "Where?" And that's when I thought I heard Rummie say, "Git mo' an' have you a grape." But maybe I misunderstood that last part, because sheep don't like grapes. Besides, it sounded like he was talking with a rube accent and nobody ever does that around here. Except for the chimp.

All the sheep had started bleating and milling around aimlessly by that point, but after a while they got themselves lined up and settled down again. Which must have been a relief to Rummie, because he looked happy and the chimp looked happier. Even the sheep looked happy, at first anyway. But it was only a few minutes before almost but not quite half of the sheep started looking really glum and milling around even more aimlessly again.

Meanwhile the chimp had climbed up on a stump and was standing up there smirking and turning his head from side to side and blinking his eyes real fast. It looked like he was trying to make some kind of speech to the sheep or something, because he kept holding on to the sides of the stump and then waving his paws and every now again he'd touch himself on the chest. The chimp was a good ways off to my right, and maybe that's why I couldn't understand him at all. I could hear him yammering and making speech-like gestures, but nothing that came out of his mouth made any sense as far as I could tell.

But the chimp kept yammering anyway, and then he started jumping up and down and beating his chest with his paws. By then he'd got all of the sheep mighty worked up, and they were all swaying back and forth and bleating along with him. And then Rummie came over and started lining up the sheep so they were all facing east, while the chimp ran out and got in front of them waving and hollering like he was trying to get them all to hurry up and move faster.

And I could hear him real well as he ran past me yammering away like that. I don't know, maybe it was his rube accent or something, but I still misheard what he was saying. I'm certain of that, because I'm sure he couldn't have said what I thought I heard him say. It didn't make sense. It was crazy talk. I mean, who in their right mind would bother getting a bunch of sheep all worked up like that just so he could rush them off to somewhere else and go declare war on a ROCK?

Nope. Definitely crazy talk. But still, that's how it happened. And it's all that darn chimp's fault. And now everybody's gone off looking for that stupid rock, except for me and Bobby Lee and a handful of leftover sheep. Bobby Lee's still cranky. And the sheep are still thick-headed. They're useless. They can't remember the difference between a flush and a full house for more than ten minutes at a time. And with hooves like that, they just keep dropping their cards in their laps anyway. Sheep can't play poker worth a darn.

So that's it. There's not enough left. That was the only game in town. And so now there won't be any more all-night poker games down at Bubba's Stump 'N' Bump.

Hmmm. Unless...

Hey, Dick -- you think maybe you could send us a few of those little black velvet dogs of yours? We'll take real good care of them, I promise...

cheers (and roebuck),
Otter

-----------

Was Press Asleep on Pre-War WMD Issue?

By Joe Strupp

Published: June 12, 2003

Last week, profound questions arose concerning the Bush administration's key reason for invading Iraq: the threat posed by that country's huge stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. Reporters and commentators are now vigorously pursuing the possibility that poor intelligence overstated the threat -- or that the administration deliberately misled the American people in its rush to go to war.

In addition to the White House, however, the press must take some of the blame, for failing to push the administration hard enough prior to the war about the existence of such weapons.

Although newspapers before the war did report the disagreement between administration officials and U.N. weapons inspectors, few major papers took the issue on full-throttle with demands for answers -- or dissected the sketchiness of the administration's evidence of vast stockpiles of WMDs.

"I'm sure the press could have done more," Tim Connelly, international editor of The Dallas Morning News, told me last week. "Questions were being raised, not necessarily by the press, but by diplomats. The skepticism was there, but it may be the case that the press failed to ask this or that question. The British press has been more aggressive in challenging the British intelligence material."

Indeed, many episodes of pre-war maneuvering, such as Colin Powell's crucial presentation to the U.N. General Assembly, should have prompted more skepticism from editors and reporters.

Instead, most papers declared or strongly suggested that Powell had succcessfully "made the case" for an invasion. Only later did we discover that much of Powell's evidence was thin or even fabricated. Bush's rigid press conference restrictions brought almost no complaints from a press corps that should always probe deeper prior to a war.

"Clearly, the reporting on this before the war may not have been critical enough," said John Walcott, Washington, D.C. bureau chief for Knight Ridder. "It is possible that we in the press made essentially the same mistakes that the intelligence community made - to extrapolate from what we learned in the 1990s from weapons inspectors about Iraq weapons programs, and not consider that Iraqi behavior might have changed."

Other editors, such as Phil Bronstein, executive vice president and editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, agreed that more could have been done, but placed part of the blame on the administration's failure to be open. "Could the press have been more aggressive? Probably," said Bronstein, who covered the first Persian Gulf War as a correspondent. "I saw a lot of stories that raised the issues. But at the end of the day, the government controls the information."

There are editors who contend they did everything possible to hold the administration's feet to the fire. Paul Van Slambrouck, editor of The Christian Science Monitor in Boston, said his paper and others did a good job of presenting the Bush arguments and the opposition raised by diplomats, U.N. inspectors and other anti-war voices. "I think the press was frustrated with the answers, but I don't know if that is the fault of the press not asking aggressively enough," he said. "The press poked at it as reasonably as it could."

Martin Baron, editor of The Boston Globe, said newspapers cannot make the federal government disclose more than it wants to. "We raised questions about it at the time, we looked at the evidence one by one and the strength of the arguments," he said. "No one could possibly know until there was a war and U.S. officials were able to go and look for themselves."

But isn't that the whole point of the press challenging the administration before the war? To expose the fact that no firm proof of weapons of mass destruction existed -- and that the President's case could be based on faulty intelligence or, worse, an all-out drive for war? While few shed tears for the exit of the murderous Saddam Hussein, the press needs to remind the public that the war was sold to them not on the basis of "regime change" but on the personal threat to Americans posed by Saddam's so-far-missing weapons.

Yes, ma'am! Running the WhiteHouse is hard!

Ramen Holiday

By Ruth Marcus

Saturday, February 12, 2005; Page A19

To: My First Family

From: Your Executive Chef

Re: Upcoming Vacancy

As you may have heard, White House Chef Walter Scheib is resigning "to pursue other opportunities." Such high-profile transitions naturally inspire those of us in similar, albeit less prestigious posts, to ponder our own situations. Having served as your executive chef for almost as long as Chef Scheib, I have decided that this would be an appropriate moment to move on, culinarily speaking.

Let me first say that it has been a privilege to "cook" for you. I put that word in quotes because I am not certain that Escoffier would consider my touch with chicken nuggets, however deft, part of mastering the art of cookery. Similarly, some of the culinary innovations of which I am most proud -- for example, discovering that you can make the macaroni and cheese in the microwave and thereby avoid having to wash another pot -- may not be worthy of even a single Michelin star, as much as your father has appreciated being spared the cleanup.

There are many moments from our kitchen time together that I will cherish, particularly our hours "baking" together. That word, too, requires quotation marks, because -- though you may not know this -- not all cookie dough comes in wrapped packages from the refrigerator section of the supermarket. I will never forget being at a "Mommy and Me" class with one of you years ago when the cheery instructor asked if anyone baked at home. Your toddler hand eagerly shot up, and she asked you to demonstrate "a motion we use to make cookies." You proudly offered the only baking motion you had ever seen: slicing.

I have learned much from my time with you -- a great deal of it involving the multiple uses of ketchup, not to mention the attractive sounds it can make on being squeezed from plastic bottles. I have conclusively determined that ketchup is not, in fact, a vegetable -- because if it were, you would certainly not eat it. Had I remained in your employ longer, it would have been interesting to indulge your stated desire to become vegetarians: Vegetarianism Without Vegetables would have been quite a challenge.

I loved the fast-paced, ever-changing nature of the job. It was always exhilarating when you would inform me just before bedtime that you needed cupcakes for the entire class -- tomorrow morning. It was fascinating to witness firsthand how yesterday's delicacy could become tomorrow's aversion -- generally just after I had laid in a three-month supply of the item in question.

What can I say about your endless eagerness to try new dishes and cuisines, your gracious appreciation for whatever dish I prepared, your always constructive criticism? Not much, actually. When one of you came into the kitchen the other day, saw the just-roasted chicken resting on the counter, and shrieked, "Get it out of here!" -- where exactly were you expecting me to put it? When you refused to take your customary seat unless I moved the chicken out of your field of vision, when you insisted that I nuke some nuggets so you would not have to eat "that thing" -- this was an entirely understandable reaction from a person of your delicate sensibilities. Chef Scheib said he had been struggling "to find a way to satisfy the first lady's stylistic requirements." I know just what he meant.

Indeed, there were issues on which we had fundamental differences: the fact, for example, that chocolate cake is not acceptable breakfast food, no matter what your grandfather says or does. That no rodents of any sort -- not the gerbils, not the guinea pigs -- may be brought into the kitchen. My inexplicable insistence that you use at least some utensils some of the time. We will have to agree to disagree on the question of whether pasta is, in fact, finger food. Still, I am sorry that I lost it so badly when you put your muddy soccer cleats on the kitchen table. I should not have thrown them into the back yard.

I am sure that Chef Scheib will offer some advice to his successor, and I would like to do so as well. As in the finest restaurants, presentation is everything. In our household, this does not mean attractively drizzled sauces of many colors. Rather, when plating: Do not, under any circumstances, allow any piece of food to touch any other piece of food. Otherwise, the strict Dietary Laws mandate that none of it may be eaten. (Except by the guinea pigs.) You will find it helpful to keep on hand an ample supply of staples: chicken nuggets, Ramen noodles and Froot Loops should do the trick. These can be used in any number of ingenious and tasty combinations.

I look forward to working with you in other capacities (for example, on the upcoming science fair, as long as no rodents are involved) and, of course, in my continuing role as soccer/gymnastics/ballet/basketball/religious school/birthday party/play date chauffeur. I will also be happy to consult as you go about the important task of choosing a successor. In the interim, the number for the pizza place is on the refrigerator.

Or call Chef Scheib. The lemon-basil seared striped bass he prepared for the Polish president sounds right up your alley. It will probably taste great with ketchup.

marcusr@washpost.com

Evidence amounts that Bush was incompetant and that his administation has abused their offices and betrayed the trust of the American people.

To say that he "slept" is actually to allow him to take the passive position; however, Bush is anything but passive. He continually misuses the power of the office; he intentionally was ignoring Clarke and anything from the Clinton administration; and he corruptly covered up the dirty deeds of his adminitration. A legitimate media would have been crawling through caves to get through this administrations coverups and abuses of power. Saying they slept is a nice way of saying they're intentionally blind.

Condiliar,Rove, Bush...they have one thing in common! CORRUPTION

Bush's Covert Propaganda Machine

By Jim Hightower, AlterNet. Posted February 12, 2005.

What we have here is Bush & Company routinely and cynically using your and my tax dollars to use the media to propagandize you and me. Where's the accountability for these corrupters?
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/21252/

Posted by: Marc Trager at February 12, 2005 01:57 PM

The press is the watchdog of the government. The biggest coup of journalism was the tough fight of Woodward and Berstein and how they were not letting the "government" impede their investigation. Where there's a will, there is a way. Unfortunatly, the current press got lazy. They're use to being spoon fed by partison officials instead of digging deeper and finding new sources and double checking facts. And WOW, did they ever get excited at the "leaks" from the Clinton S*x scandle, but sending thousands to their death in an illegal war doesn't make them get off their phones with their "leaks" and do true investigation. Same with 9-11 facts, and same with election fraud, and same with propraganda meisters...

Shhhh....the press is sleeping.

~~there is much wisdom here, much wisdom..

Changing Minds, One at a Time
By Howard Zinn
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/021205Y.shtml

I feel so badly for their problem:

Born from the megamergers of the 1990's, the world's giant oil companies have delivered on their promise. They have cut costs, increased returns and raised profits to records. Now, flush with cash, they find themselves in a paradoxical position - they are making more money than they can comfortably spend.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/12/business/12oil.html?th

Can you figure out why he would threaten to veto any changes to the bill? I will give you one guess. Can you say "Big Pharma"?:

New estimates showing that the benefit will cost $724 billion over a decade have touched off a furor in Congress, where lawmakers originally believed that it would cost much less. Many members of Congress say they want to revisit the Medicare law this year. Conservatives seek cutbacks in benefits and cost controls. Liberals and some centrists want to require the government to negotiate prices with drug manufacturers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/12/politics/12bush.html?pagewanted=1&th

I get a real sick feeling..all heavy ..

Kissinger Brings Putin Friendship from Bush

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger brought the Kremlin best wishes from the White House on Saturday, a week after current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Russia on "the basics of democracy."

"I'm here for the purpose of strengthening the ties between our leaders and our countries," Kissinger, an architect of the Cold War policy of detente toward the Soviet Union, told President Vladimir Putin during a visit to Moscow.

"I'm a good friend of President (George W.) Bush and a strong supporter of his foreign policy. I know what a good opinion he has of you," said Kissinger, 81, adding that he was visiting in a personal capacity.

"We have friends in common," Putin replied.
...

Kissinger, the U.S. foreign policy chief under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, did not elaborate on the purpose of his two-day visit to Russia, a country which he said was "very important for the future of the world."

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsN...

I heard the darndest thing on Chris Matthews' show last nite (the 2-minutes I could stand to watch). He and Tucker Carlson essentially agreed that the SS debate is a win-win for Shrub even if his plan doesn't pass. Apparently the mere fact that Shrub was brave enough to go after a governmental pillar as sacred as SS is a win for him. So this, I guess is how Repubs are preparing to handle defeat on this, put out there that it took guts to go after it in the first place. Now ain't that some sh*t? When a Dem president loses a fight with Congress it's called, well a loss. When Shrub does it's heroic. Unreal. The sad part is that the MSM media will buy it hook line and sinker.

BTW...Matthews and Tucker thinks Shrub's SS scam will pass thru. They said that if SS comes to a vote ShrubCo will "corral" the opposing Repubs in a room and they will not let them leave until they change their vote. And I'm sure that usually entails ShrubCo reps saying to them: what can I do in order for you to change your vote. Both he and Tucker seemed to someone admit that it wasn't necessarily a good thing that they conducted business in this matter, but Matthews especially seemed to admire it. You know he goes ga-ga for that macho strong arm crap that ShrubCo pulls.

Posted by: oncall at February 12, 2005 03:04 PM

Oncall,

Ron Wyden and Olympia Snowe co-authored a bill to repeal the provision prohibiting the HHS Secretary from negotiating drug prices:

Medicare Enhancement for Needed Drugs (MEND) Act of 2005 (S. 239)

The bipartisan bill is also cosponsored by U.S. Senators Russell Feingold (D-Wisc.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.).
The MEND Act repeals Section 1860D-11(I), or the non-interference provision, of the Medicare prescription drug benefit, which prohibits the HHS Secretary from negotiating for lower-cost drugs in bulk. MEND grants the Secretary specific authority to bargain for better prices and improved access to medicines in the same way that private insurers and private businesses negotiate for lower costs in bulk.

http://wyden.senate.gov/media/2005/02012005_mend.html

Kissinger... yeah, that should bring back fond memories to the American public.

Oh wait, the American public HAS no memory.

I forgot.

Marc,

Mem'ries,
Like the corners of my mind
Misty water-colored memories
Of the way we were
Scattered pictures,
Of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another
For the way we were
Can it be that it was all so simple then?
Or has time re-written every line?
If we had the chance to do it all again
Tell me, would we? could we?
Mem'ries, may be beautiful and yet
What's too painful to remember
We simply choose to forget
So it's the laughter
We will remember
Whenever we remember...
The way we were...
The way we were...