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Liberal Media! Where?
These two pieces should once and for all put to bed the common nonsense meme of "the liberal media" that is so widely circulated in the echo chamber of traditional media.
Hat tip to Atrios for providing this information:
When liberals do appear, the balance is often stacked against them. For nearly three years in the late 1990s, the regular roundtable on "This Week" featured George Will and William Kristol double-teaming George Stephanopoulos. On five occasions, Stephanopoulos was absent, and Will's establishment conservatism had to provide "balance" to Kristol's triumphalist conservatism. But even when the former Clinton aide was in the studio, he was in the process of trying to shed his political reputation and become a "Journalist," he who expresses no personal views, making the debate even more lopsided than it otherwise would have been.
The consequence of all this is that in every year since 1997, conservative journalists have dramatically outnumbered liberal journalists, in some years by two-to-one or more. Why would the producers of the shows believe that a William Safire (56 appearances since 1997) or Bob Novak (37 appearances) is somehow "balanced" by a Gwen Ifill (27) or Dan Balz (22)? It suggests that some may have internalized the conservative critique of the media, which assumes that daily journalists are "liberal" almost by definition, and thus can provide a counterpoint to highly partisan conservative pundits.
What gets left behind, of course, is the real liberal. Not only do openly liberal columnists like Paul Krugman appear far less frequently than their conservative colleagues, writers, and editors from magazines like The Nation, The American Prospect, and The New Republic are seldom seen (forget about the Progressive, Mother Jones or In These Times), while the Weekly Standard and the National Review are regularly represented. Last year saw eleven appearances by writers from the two conservative magazines, but only two from liberal magazines. (There was one bright spot in the data: A December 1998 episode of "Meet the Press" featured none other than Charles Peters, this magazine's founder. Unfortunately, that was the last time anyone from The Washington Monthly graced the Sunday shows.)
But according to Digby, Liberal blogs are getting the job done while the corporate media has disappeared.
I believe that if it had not been for the constant underground drumbeat from the fever swamps over the past five years, when the incompetence, malfeasance and corruption finally hit critical mass last summer with the bad news from Iraq, oil prices and Katrina, Bush would not have sunk as precipitously as he did and stayed there. It literally took two catasprophes of epic proportions to break the media from its narrative of Bush's powerful leadership. And this after two extremely close elections ---- and the lack of any WMD in Iraq.
Bush's approval rating now hovers around 40% but it's been an uphill battle to keep fighting day after day for media integrity.
All of us have come to blogging from different situations in our lives, and sometimes our lives interfere with blogging, but we can still carry our blogging roots with us and make a difference out there in the real world and not just cyberspace. We're fighting that conservative meme every step of the way!
There is no liberal media!
repost from last thread:
Good morning, DCPers!
Today brings some truly appalling news (at least, appalling to this teacher and mom of high schools students):
"In an exciting new outreach initiative, the Bureau of Public Affairs produced a high-quality historical video and curriculum package on terrorism for use in high school classrooms around the country. A War Without Borders was designed to give students a brief overview of the history and impact of terrorism and help them understand its relationship to their own lives. Distributed to nearly 13,000 social studies teachers, A War Without Borders reached more American students than any other post-9/11 curriculum package, according to an independent university study. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and many teachers have decided to re-use the package annually. The video is the first in a series created especially for students to help them understand both the complexities and opportunities of the world in the 21st century. US Department of State (2005)
http://www.future.state.gov/educators/lessons/43401.htm
Dana, age 16, just had a field trip to the Dept. of State, where the class was briefed by none other than Karen Hughes. Dana, age 16, was not impressed.
BTW, there is a pdf doc on the State Dept. site that has a timeline of terrorism. The first date listed is 1790, the "Reign of Terror" in France. The next date is 1972, the Munich Olympics. There is no mention of anything that fits their OWN definition of terrorism in between--like the "Trail of Tears", or any of the attacks on MLK, Jr., or what we did in Vietnam (My Lai etc.). Time to break out the Zinn texts in high school...
notes from the field; went to peace protest mon eve. I haven't been in a few weeks. More cars with us than a month ago. change is slow. be the message. witness and stand.
It works.
Be the scenery.
Interesting note about the "Trail of Tears". The United States Supreme Court, led by Federalist John Marshall, sided with the Cherokee Indians in their dispute with the Jackson Administration. But Jackson chose to completely ignore the Court's ruling. Thus, in a very real sense, Jackson’s was an administration that was quite comfortable violating the rule of law when it suited its purposes.
Curiously, some historians continue to describe this man as a great president; and other commentators, like Bill O'Reilly, have actually compared him with our own George W. Bush. The comparison is inexact, inasmuch as Jackson was an authentic war hero - if also a man who routinely put his life at risk in foolish ways (via duels). Another contrast might be that Jackson is considered the first "Democratic" president, and the first "populist" President.
The Jackson Administration’s disastrous financial policies (including his refusal to reauthorize the First United States bank), led to a depression during his successor's single term in office - another parallel that some Americans believe that they have reason to worry about with regard to George W. Bush’s economic policies.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Some women get flowers, others jewelry. This year, first lady Laura Bush got a formal dinner and an intimate concert by a well-known crooner from her valentine.
For the second year in a row, President Bush and his wife spent the lovers' holiday formally entertaining about 100 friends and associates at the White House.
Singer Michael Feinstein capped the romantic evening by serenading the crowd, which included new Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, actor Chuck Norris -- wearing black cowboy boots with his tux, of course -- singer Wayne Newton and Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Joe Lieberman, D-Conn.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/14/bush.valentines.ap/index.html
Joe Lieberman?
Cheney likely to speak about shooting
Controversy continues over White House handling of hunting incident
NBC, MSNBC and news services
Updated: 8:22 a.m. ET Feb. 15, 2006
Vice President Dick Cheney is expected to make his first public statement about the accidental shooting of a hunting partner, sources told NBC News on Wednesday.
Cheney will “certainly” speak to the issue, the sources said, but they also cautioned that “we're at Wednesday” and suggested that progress made by Harry Whittington, the 78-year-old lawyer shot by Cheney, will play a big role in how any public comment is handled.
The vice president, who had breakfast with President Bush and lawmakers Wednesday morning, has no public events scheduled until Friday, when he is to travel to Wyoming to speak to state lawmakers.
Journalists have been scrambling to piece together the full story behind the accident last Saturday at a Texas ranch. Meanwhile, Republican party pressure on Cheney to address the issue has been growing.
-snip-
Whittington was immediately moved back to the intensive care unit for further treatment at a Corpus Christi, Texas, hospital, and the vice president, lauded and pilloried as the unflappable fix-it man of the Bush administration, once again moved into the white-hot spotlight of controversy.
Cheney issued a brief written statement saying that he "stood ready to assist" and that "his thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Whittington and his family," but the lack of any public comment from the vice president on the incident itself has only fueled questions and theories about what actually happened at Katharine Armstrong's 50,000-acre spread.
The dustup over the accident and when it was made public "is part of the secretive nature of this administration," said Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. "I think it’s time the American people heard from the vice president."
read on... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11361657/
Katharine Armstrong's 50,000-acre spread.
DC approx. 39,000 acres
Seattle approx. 66,000 acres
serfs & vassals?
I used to be a waitress in SD for pheasant hunters, where Cheney goes duck hunting.
I remember bastards like him.
50cents/hour, 5cent tips
I still harbor a grudge.
More Abu Graib photos, 2003 but new images - shown on Australian tv in hopes of putting pressure on officials
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/02/15/abughraib.photos/
This along with the uncovering of abuse of Iraqis, including boys, by Brits should may AQ's recruiting job easier
Saturday evening... (from msnbc.com)
Cheney and the rest of the hunting party sit down for dinner at the ranch. At some point, sheriff’s deputies who heard reports of the ambulance responding to an accident at the ranch stop at the front gate to see if anyone needs help, but are told no one needs assistance. The Secret Service earlier had said the deputies were seeking to interview Cheney, but on Tuesday they said that was not the case. Armstrong says no one at the dinner discussed announcing the accident to the public because they were all focused on Whittington’s well being.
(They all sat down for dinner at the ranch because they were SO focused on his well being)
Monkey
Were they eating quail or do they just discard it?
Let Them Eat Quail - Financial Times
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/73cba9f4-9e0c-11da-b641-0000779e2340.html
4229 stories (Cheney Controversy Persists)
Congressional Probe of NSA Spying in Doubt
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021506Z.shtml
Congress appeared ready to launch an investigation into the Bush administration's warrantless domestic surveillance program last week, but an all-out White House lobbying campaign has dramatically slowed the effort and may kill it, key Republican and Democratic sources said yesterday.
Need public pressure.
Congressional Probe of NSA Spying in Doubt
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021506Z.shtml
Congress appeared ready to launch an investigation into the Bush administration's warrantless domestic surveillance program last week, but an all-out White House lobbying campaign has dramatically slowed the effort and may kill it, key Republican and Democratic sources said yesterday.
Need public pressure.
Posted by: DiAnne at February 15, 2006 10:29 AM
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The wiretap program is still being challenged in the courts by, among others, the ACLU.
Top Democrats Urge Cheney to Come Forward on Shooting
http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2006-02-15T142820Z_01_N14310965_RTRUKOC_0_US-CHENEY-ACCIDENT.xml
This will be said to be "partisan" - will for Christ's sake he's the Vice President! He needs to at least make a statement!
Ralpheh
Well the ACLU would be expected to challenge.
If the Senate doesn't bother, then they're just voluntarily giving up the concept of Balance of Powers and might as well just all buy "rubber stamps" to pass whatever Bush/industry wants.
I listened to Bush talk about healthcare for 2 straight days on the way to work. It's patently obvious that the goal is to pass the expense off to the consumer and get the responsibility off the back of the government, so they will have more to spend on military adventures. It will be "framed" as this giant tsunami that is going to come down on us if we don't cut government spending for healthcare & give more permanent tax cuts to the richest one percent.
Barney Frank even questioned Alan Greenspan about the growing gap between rich and poor - I hope someone does that to this new Bernanke. It's immoral that the gap grows and the top one percent gets richer. It started in the Reagan era.
Clinton's healthcare reforms were more high profile but Bush's different type are sneaking in. Not so much talk about Social Security now- that wasn't popular. But watch Medicare, Medicaid and health spending & then the new farce, the prescription drug coverage (gift to the drug companies).
This Kos diary addresses what we were talking about last night -- specifically with Andrée -- about how the Cheney incident itself is not the issue, but instead how it has been handled is indicative of the way this regime operates...
It's the Metaphor, Stupid!: Cheney story bigger than you think
--snip--
It's because this story is a perfect metaphor for this administration's foreign and domestic policy. It says everything you need to know about Dick Cheney personally, and the way this entire administration operates.
And the press does this all the time: they run with little things that display flaws in character: Al Gore's "Internet" quote to highlight his weakness for exaggeration; Kerry's "Voted for it before I voted against it" to highlight his weakness for equivocation.
In this case, we have Cheney and the entire Bush Administration foreign and domestic policy in a nutshell. Especially in Iraq and Katrina.
In this case, Cheney and friends were killing innocent creatures who were trapped in a pen with no hope of escape.
Overeager, Cheney hunted with a shoot first, ask questions later mentality, and managed to strike his own partner, and send his friend to intensive care.
It later appears that Bush and his situation room (or so they said) had no idea what was going on on the ground there. They waited an entire day to even report the story, even though they obviously knew what happened. Hell, someone else had to force them to report the story, because they sure weren't going to unless they had to.
The official story then has Cheney blaming the victim, saying it was the victim's fault he got in Cheney's way.
It starts to become clear there was a pretty big hush-hush coverup job about it, but that the truth couldn't help but get leaked, despite the Administration's best wishes. There is even speculation that Cheney was possibly intoxicated, and not using his best intelligence before he started shooting.
And, of course, they couldn't afford to admit the truth, because the truth would probably be an impeachable offense.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/2/13/23432/4110
I believe there were several folks here yesterday saying that it didn't matter if Brown is elected over DeWine in November. Phrases like there is not a dime's worth of difference b/w Republican DeWine and a a republican look alike Brown.
The following has already been posted but it clearly reminds us that elections do matter and when we see folks like DeWine and Snowe vote for Alito and then tell us they intend to end any check on the President and exclude his spying from the FISA Courts, it is time that we tell DeWine and Snowe that your days in the US Senate are numbered. Even if it means sucking it up and supporting folks like Sherrod Brown who we were told yesterday on this site is Republican Lite.
Not so fast.
"Congress appeared ready to launch an investigation into the Bush administration's warrantless domestic surveillance program last week, but an all-out White House lobbying campaign has dramatically slowed the effort and may kill it, key Republican and Democratic sources said yesterday.
The Senate intelligence committee is scheduled to vote tomorrow on a Democratic-sponsored motion to start an inquiry into the recently revealed program in which the National Security Agency eavesdrops on an undisclosed number of phone calls and e-mails involving U.S. residents without obtaining warrants from a secret court. Two committee Democrats said the panel -- made up of eight Republicans and seven Democrats -- was clearly leaning in favor of the motion last week but now is closely divided and possibly inclined against it.
"They attributed the shift to last week's closed briefings given by top administration officials to the full House and Senate intelligence committees, and to private appeals to wavering GOP senators by officials, including Vice President Cheney. " Stong arming
It's been a full-court press," said a top Senate Republican aide who asked to speak only on background -- as did several others for this story -- because of the classified nature of the intelligence committees' work.
Lawmakers cite senators such as "Olympia J. Snowe "(R-Maine) to illustrate the administration's success in cooling congressional zeal for an investigation. On Dec. 20, she was among two Republicans and two Democrats who signed a letter expressing "our profound concern about recent revelations that the United States Government may have engaged in domestic electronic surveillance without appropriate legal authority." The letter urged the Senate's intelligence and judiciary committees to "jointly undertake an inquiry into the facts and law surrounding these allegations."
In an interview yesterday, Snowe said, "I'm not sure it's going to be essential or necessary" to conduct an inquiry "if we can address the legislative standpoint" that would provide oversight of the surveillance program. "We're learning a lot and we're going to learn more," she said.
She cited last week's briefings before the full House and Senate intelligence committees by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and former NSA director Michael V. Hayden.
Before the New York Times disclosed the NSA program in mid-December, administration briefings regarding it were highly secret and limited to eight lawmakers: the top Republican and Democratic leader of the House and Senate, respectively, and the top Republican and Democrat on the House and Senate intelligence committees.
The White House characterized last week's closed-door briefings to the full committees as a significant concession and a sign of the administration's respect for Congress and its oversight responsibilities. Many Democrats dismissed the briefings as virtually useless, but senators said yesterday they appear to have played a big role in slowing momentum for an inquiry.
John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), the Senate intelligence committee's vice chairman, has drafted a motion calling for a wide-ranging inquiry into the surveillance program, according to congressional sources who have seen it. Rockefeller declined to be interviewed yesterday.
Sources close to Rockefeller say he is frustrated by what he sees as "heavy-handed White House efforts" to dissuade Republicans from supporting his measure. They noted that Cheney conducted a Republicans-only meeting on intelligence matters in the Capitol yesterday.
Senate intelligence committee member Mike DeWine (R-Ohio):
This statement tells us why we need to get behind Dherrod Brown.
said in an interview that he supports the NSA program and would oppose a congressional investigation. He said he is drafting legislation that would "specifically authorize this program" by excluding it from the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which established a secret court to consider government requests for wiretap warrants in anti-terrorist investigations.
"Snowe said she is inclined to support DeWine's plan..."
apparently even so called moderate Republican Sen. Snowe is behind this cover-up.
Speaking of partisan statements....
NEWS ALERT Vice President Cheney to make first public comments on his hunting accident in interview with Fox News this afternoon, Reuters reports.
Live From the Hen House
Posted by: monkey at February 15, 2006 11:22 AM
I read that it's going to be an interview with Brit Hume.
Let's hope nobody gets hit with those softballs that will be thrown...
from American Progress Report;
Bush hosts health care talk - AT THE HEADQUARTERS OF WENDY'S FAST FOOD CHAIN
"Bush To Discuss Health Care During Visit To Wendy's," Cincinnati's WCPO-TV reported. Their headline isn't a joke - Bush really picked the headquarters of the nation's third-largest burger chain's headquarters as the place to sell his health care schemes to the American people. The White House chose the venue because Wendy's strongly supports Health Savings Accounts. In 2005, the National Journal reported Wendy's International joined a working group, along with other companies such as Fidelity Investments and Pfizer, "aimed at ensuring the success" of HSAs. Today, Wendy's spokesman Denny Lynch said the company wants to "tell [Bush] about an innovative program that we believe serves the best interests of employees and shareholders." The "innovative program" is HSAs, paired with high-deductible health insurance. Bush wants to dramatically increase the amount of money that individuals can contribute to such accounts to encourage more high-deductible plans. An increased reliance on HSAs, however, could actually increase the number of uninsured Americans because they won't be able to afford plans with high deductibles. HSAs provide benefits almost exclusively to high-income individuals and big businesses. "The bottom line is that what the Bush administration calls reform is actually the opposite," Paul Krugman wrote. "Driven by an ideology at odds with reality, the administration wants to accentuate, not fix, what's wrong with America's health care system."
Madame Defarge
Thank you for posting that (story & comment) - that's why I have continued to talk about "it" - the story that won't go away. It's a metaphor for how they operate - sweep it under the rug, operate in secrecy from the American people.
Why is Cheney appearing on Fox? (we know)
If he was a real man, he'd do something besides preach to the converted & take on some real media. It doesn't take much of a man to drive up and shoot small birds, or to send young men to their death overseas when he himself had 5 deferments.
http://www.toostupidtobepresident.com/shockwave/chickenhawks.htm
"Cheney will be interviewed by Fox News at 2 p.m. (1900 GMT), White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters. The interview will not be aired live."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060215/ts_nm/cheney_accident_interview_dc
Live would be inappropriate for Cheney. He always seems more "undead" to me anyway...
Posted by: nmp at February 15, 2006 11:37 AM
Great, another staged opportunity, in front of a heavily Republican hamburger chain.
(But then, aren't almost all hamburger chains Republican anyway, robbing the working class's health and money for W?)
There is no mention of anything that fits their OWN definition of terrorism in between--like the "Trail of Tears", or any of the attacks on MLK, Jr., or what we did in Vietnam (My Lai etc.). Time to break out the Zinn texts in high school...
Posted by: karen at February 15, 2006 07:25 AM
Gotta love the propaganda ministry. The US is looking more and more like Nazi Germany or the USSR.
Having grown up in a fascist society myself, I know fascism when I see it - and I see it right now.
Posted by: madame defarge at February 15, 2006 11:49 AM
Not aired live? Dispite what I said yesterday, why does this not suprise me? Softball questions (and I'm guessing they'll be more in the nature of ping pong balls, you can still get hurt with a softball) and a chance to edit! I don't think this is what anybody had in mind when the demand for a statement from Cheney arose in the White House press corps, and the Senate.
Coupled with the somewhat confusing news from the hospital.. can you say ongoing coverup?
And Madame.. I don't expect a soul here to force themselves to watch enough Fox news to catch the 1 minuete soundbite we're going to get from this.
And Madame.. I don't expect a soul here to force themselves to watch enough Fox news to catch the 1 minuete soundbite we're going to get from this.
Posted by: Ladytechie at February 15, 2006 12:20 PM
Whew! Thanks!
(sent me from Kos site)
(transcript of tv broadcast)
CAVUTO: This is a Fox News alert. The lawyer accidentally hit by Vice President Dick Cheney suffering a mild heart attack this morning. Doctors say he's doing just fine and could be released in a week. Meanwhile, the White House press corps again beating a dead horse as it tries to find out why they were not told right away about the Vice President's hunting accident. Not one person bothering to ask, in the meantime, how Dick Cheney's feeling about all this. After all, he's a human being and injuring someone else in an accident can take a huge toll. With us now someone who knows the Vice President pretty well. Ron Christie is a former Cheney advisor and author of Black in the White House. Good to have you back my friend.