Sunday, January 18, 2004
The Sunday Papers
See below for farmer's coverage of the Sunday blogosphere. And GO IGGLES!!!!!
Indeed, what about Dick? Remarkably, or not, one Marc Liebowitz manages to doublethink his way into writing this sentence—"[Cheney] will never be called a sycophant, schmoozer or self-promoter—and then this one—"George W. Bush asked Cheney to vet prospective running mates in 2000, only to wind up asking . . . what about Dick? `It's the most Machiavellian [expletive] thing I've ever seen,' says Stuart Spencer, a Republican consultant and old friend of Cheney's"—in the very same article. Heading up a task force to select a VP, and selecting yourself, as did Cheney, looks like the essence of self-promotion to me. Strange how revealing the "friends" of Republicans can be, isn't it? Even stranger is what these friends laugh off; Kristof's report of Bush torturing and killing frogs as a child was corroborated by a childhood friend of Bush. Issues with Liebowitz's soft coverage of Cheney will doubtless land on the desk of overworked Post ombudsman Michael Getler (mail), whose column today quotes a good deal of well-reasoned, i.e., liberal criticism of WaPo's role in the state-run media. (Some honorable reporters still haven't gotten the memo on this one, fortunately for us and our democracy). Keep up the good work, folks!
And speaking of ombudsmen, Times "public editor" Daniel Okrent keeps his promise (back) to cover the Times's coverage of Dean. Okrent sums up: "Memo to Dean supporters: If you think it's rough when The Times has you under observation, be prepared to strap on your seat belts if he wins the nomination." (I certainly hope that's not a threat!) The only problem with Okrent's statement: The Times has already issued itself a get-out-of-jail-free card (here) for its fawning "coverage" of Bush in the 2000 campaign, and Whitewater too, if it comes to that. [See the Howler here, and here. Honestly, Mr. Okrent, do you think we don't keep careful records?] So, fool me once (Whitewater), shame on you. Fool me twice ("election" 2000), shame on me. Does Mr. Okrent (mail) give us a reason to reset the Time's lack-of-credibility counter to zero? I don't think so. Third time's not the charm. Mr. Okrent has bravely published his phone number: (212) 556-7652. Meanwhile, the Times does have some actual reportage on Walmart creatively abusing its workers, Microsoft's impunity, and the Bush trashing science in the National Park Service. (Why should my tax dollars go to place a book that claims the Grand Canyon is 6000 years old?)
Alisa Rubin has an interesting story on the difficulties Bush will have triangulating the Shiites, the Kurds, and the Sunnis in time for the Republican Guard's Manhattan in-gathering. Chalmers Johnson has an excellent article on the United States miltary footprint at home and abroad. "According to the American Enterprise Institute, the idea is to create "a global cavalry" that can ride in from "frontier stockades" and shoot up the "bad guys" as soon as we get some intelligence on them." And, on the same platform with Wesley Clark, Michael Moore successfully transmitted the aWol meme into the mainstream media. "Asked later if he shared Moore's view that Bush was a deserter, Clark said: "I've heard those charges. I don't know whether they're established or not. He was never prosecuted for it." How true. It will be interesting to compare and contrast SCLM coverage of Clark's artful non-denial denial with Dean's mere mention of the "Bush knew about 9/11" theories. Anyhow, with $130 million, Unka Karl shouldn't have too much trouble making this one go away. After all, Rove only has to produce one witness showing that Bush did do his service, even though the paperwork seems to be missing. P.S. Please, Korean parents: Don't multilate the tongues of your children so they can speak English without an accent.
WaPo
Indeed, what about Dick? Remarkably, or not, one Marc Liebowitz manages to doublethink his way into writing this sentence—"[Cheney] will never be called a sycophant, schmoozer or self-promoter—and then this one—"George W. Bush asked Cheney to vet prospective running mates in 2000, only to wind up asking . . . what about Dick? `It's the most Machiavellian [expletive] thing I've ever seen,' says Stuart Spencer, a Republican consultant and old friend of Cheney's"—in the very same article. Heading up a task force to select a VP, and selecting yourself, as did Cheney, looks like the essence of self-promotion to me. Strange how revealing the "friends" of Republicans can be, isn't it? Even stranger is what these friends laugh off; Kristof's report of Bush torturing and killing frogs as a child was corroborated by a childhood friend of Bush. Issues with Liebowitz's soft coverage of Cheney will doubtless land on the desk of overworked Post ombudsman Michael Getler (mail), whose column today quotes a good deal of well-reasoned, i.e., liberal criticism of WaPo's role in the state-run media. (Some honorable reporters still haven't gotten the memo on this one, fortunately for us and our democracy). Keep up the good work, folks!
The World's Greatest Newspaper (not!)
And speaking of ombudsmen, Times "public editor" Daniel Okrent keeps his promise (back) to cover the Times's coverage of Dean. Okrent sums up: "Memo to Dean supporters: If you think it's rough when The Times has you under observation, be prepared to strap on your seat belts if he wins the nomination." (I certainly hope that's not a threat!) The only problem with Okrent's statement: The Times has already issued itself a get-out-of-jail-free card (here) for its fawning "coverage" of Bush in the 2000 campaign, and Whitewater too, if it comes to that. [See the Howler here, and here. Honestly, Mr. Okrent, do you think we don't keep careful records?] So, fool me once (Whitewater), shame on you. Fool me twice ("election" 2000), shame on me. Does Mr. Okrent (mail) give us a reason to reset the Time's lack-of-credibility counter to zero? I don't think so. Third time's not the charm. Mr. Okrent has bravely published his phone number: (212) 556-7652. Meanwhile, the Times does have some actual reportage on Walmart creatively abusing its workers, Microsoft's impunity, and the Bush trashing science in the National Park Service. (Why should my tax dollars go to place a book that claims the Grand Canyon is 6000 years old?)
The Los Angeles Times
Alisa Rubin has an interesting story on the difficulties Bush will have triangulating the Shiites, the Kurds, and the Sunnis in time for the Republican Guard's Manhattan in-gathering. Chalmers Johnson has an excellent article on the United States miltary footprint at home and abroad. "According to the American Enterprise Institute, the idea is to create "a global cavalry" that can ride in from "frontier stockades" and shoot up the "bad guys" as soon as we get some intelligence on them." And, on the same platform with Wesley Clark, Michael Moore successfully transmitted the aWol meme into the mainstream media. "Asked later if he shared Moore's view that Bush was a deserter, Clark said: "I've heard those charges. I don't know whether they're established or not. He was never prosecuted for it." How true. It will be interesting to compare and contrast SCLM coverage of Clark's artful non-denial denial with Dean's mere mention of the "Bush knew about 9/11" theories. Anyhow, with $130 million, Unka Karl shouldn't have too much trouble making this one go away. After all, Rove only has to produce one witness showing that Bush did do his service, even though the paperwork seems to be missing. P.S. Please, Korean parents: Don't multilate the tongues of your children so they can speak English without an accent.
