It seems fitting that John McCain sat down with George Stephanopoulos yesterday on a program called “This Week,” because the name itself carries the suggestion that what you hear McCain say will only be operative for a limited time. Next week may be a different matter entirely, and last week has succumbed to history’s dust [...]
Monthly Archives: September 2008
Sep 27
Random Thoughts: McCain, Palin And Olbermann
Just a few things that are running through my idle mind: On John McCain: In last night’s debate, McCain suggested that folks check the website of Citizens Against Government Waste to confirm his allegations about Obama’s congressional earmarks. What he didn’t say is that CAGW is a McCain front group that has endorsed him for [...]
Sep 26
Cafferty To Blitzer: Don’t Make Excuses For Her (Sarah Palin)!
This has to be enshrined as one of the premiere moments in television news. CNN’s Jack Cafferty rolled tape of Sarah Palin’s interview with Katie Couric. Couric asked Palin about the expense of the White House’s Wall Street bailout proposal. Palin gave a rambling and non-responsive answer. But what came after is even more startling. [...]
Sep 24
CNN’s Campbell Brown: Free Sarah Palin
It would be a mistake to get too bogged down on the Republican spokesmodel for vice-president, Sarah Palin, but this commentary by CNN’s Campbell Brown is notable for diving straight to the point: This is also notable because Brown herself has not been a particularly bright light in the media sky. She has a history [...]
Sep 23
Palin/McCain Camp Bars Press From UN Meetings
Continuing their strategy of stonewalling the media, Palin and McCain are refusing to admit reporters into the meetings that Palin has scheduled at the United Nations. Palin’s UN visit includes chats with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. The campaign is hoping to enhance her foreign policy cred by having her spend [...]
Sep 19
Update On Journalists Arrested At Republican Convention
At the Republican National Convention in Minnesota this month, there was an unprecedented assault on freedom of the press as dozens of journalists were arrested along with the protesters they were covering. Those arrested included members of local broadcast media, the Associated Press, and mainstream newspapers, along with alternative media and Internet news sites. The [...]
Sep 18
Jill Greenberg’s Extra-Real Photos Of John McCain
On assignment for Atlantic Monthly Magazine, photographer Jill Greenberg took a series of pictures of John McCain. In the course of the photo shoot she asked McCain to pose for a set that she had deliberately designed to light him in manner that produced a more sinister, some might say more realistic, appearance. She later [...]
Sep 15
No One Wants To Play With John McCain
As an illustration of how shallow the media analysis is of the so-called “Palin Effect.” a picture is indeed worth a thousand words: Here are 68 words from the Washington Post: Republican presidential nominee John McCain held his first rally without running mate Sarah Palin today, and let’s just say there were seats available. The [...]
Sep 13
The John McCain Experience
Much of the focus of John McCain’s campaign for president has been on his reputed experience (and just as often, the alleged lack of same for his opponent). But there has been sparse actual examination of how that argument should be measured. Is spending five and a half years in a prisoner of war camp [...]
Sep 11
In Defense Of The Pre-9/11 Mindset: Reprise
[On September 11, 2006, I wrote an essay about how the American perception of its place in the world supposedly shifted after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. I reprint it here today because, sadly, it's still true.] 9/11 was undoubtedly an unwelcome milestone in American history. But the idea that everything changed on [...]
Sep 11
Palin Boots McCain From Top Of The Ticket
Judging by the treatment Sarah Palin is receiving from the media, a casual observer could be forgiven for assuming that she is the candidate for president and John McCain is her running mate. Wednesday evening she arrived back in her home state of Alaska and all three cable news networks interrupted their programming to air [...]
Sep 08
Submission Accomplished: MSNBC Demotes Olbermann
Keith Olbermann is MSNBC’s hottest property. His ratings eclipse those of the rest of the lineup. So clearly he is a significant draw for an audience that MSNBC has been struggling to expand and they would reward him commensurate to his contribution. Think again: “MSNBC is removing Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews as the anchors [...]
