US News Reporting On Glitches

Posted by on August 26, 2008 at 3:33 pm. NO Comments :

US News & World Report has an item on recent polling of the presidential race:

“One intriguing result from Sunday’s Washington Post/ABC poll (which showed Barack Obama maintaining a narrow, 4 percent lead among likely voters) was the Democratic candidate’s vault over John McCain on the question of leadership.”

Not satisfied to simply publish the results of the poll, US News commenced to spinning vigorously. The article carried the headline: “Obama Moves Past McCain on Leadership-A Polling Glitch or Genuine Trend”

This is the sort of bias that Democrats face throughout the Conventional Media world. When they trail in the polls, the press eagerly report the collapse of the Party. When they lead, it is the result of a “glitch.”

US News characterizes the shift in leadership preference as “dramatic.” But their own reporting seems to imply that it was a steady trend over time:

“In March, those surveyed chose McCain as the stronger leader by a 53-40 margin. In June, McCain had a 47-44 lead. But in the August poll, Obama beats McCain by five points, 49-44. That is an 18-point switch in four months.”

Four months is a good stretch, and plenty of time to observe significant changes in voter attitudes. But US News implies that the shift came too quickly and is thus suspect. And this implication is pushed even though other polls affirm the results seen in the WaPo/ABC poll.

This is the sort of dishonesty in journalism that we’re up against, folks.

Find us on Google+
Advertisement:

Fox News Ad Says That CNN Is Partisan

Posted by on August 25, 2008 at 11:01 pm. 1 Comments :

In a feat of heroic irony, Fox News published an ad promoting itself that called CNN a partisan network. It is beyond me how they could have completed work on the ad with all the laughing that one would expect to ensue. But they did complete it and it was printed in several newspapers including the Washington Post and News Corp. sister pub, the Wall Street Journal.

The ad relied on data from a Pew study on news audience segmentation. Fox managed to thoroughly misrepresent the results of the survey, and consequently misinform anyone reading the ad. This, of course, is nothing new for Fox who daily misinform their viewers.

The Fox ad highlighted Pew’s finding that 51% of CNN viewers were Democrats and 18% were Republicans. By comparison, 39% of Fox viewers were Republicans and 31% Democrats. From these findings Fox concluded that they were more balanced. Presumably they surmise that the closer the distribution of viewers by party affiliation, the more balanced the coverage. The problem is that balance in viewership is not a measure of balance in news content. Any serious, objective analyst would concede that the content on Fox News is heavily weighted to conservative views. Fox executives Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes have as much as admitted it when they assert that Fox was designed to counter what they believed to be a liberal bias in their competition. It should come as no surprise that such a deliberately partisan enterprise would attract more conservatives and Republicans. And that’s exactly what the Pew numbers reveal, despite Fox’s efforts to misconstrue them.

Left out of the Fox ad was the fact that the 39% of Fox viewers identifying themselves as Republicans is approximately double the amount of every other news network, not just CNN. That disparity alone is revealing. And the 33% of Fox viewers identifying themselves as Democrats is the lowest of all the news networks by a considerable margin.

However the most salient fact to arise from this information is that the ratio of Republicans to Democrats on Fox (39(R) to 31(D)) is the exact inverse of the general population (39(D) to 32(R)).

So the truth is, Fox News is not only not “balanced,” it is the opposite of the profile of American voters. It is the network that is the least representative of the public. And from that they want us to conclude that they are fair and balanced? Sure, CNN’s 51% is an overweighting of Democrats. But at least it reflects the correct majority tilt in the population. The fact that Fox slants its coverage so far to the right explains both its upside down representation of Republicans to Democrats and the exodus of Democrats from Fox to the other networks.

It’s not enough that Fox manipulates the Pew study for their self-serving ads, they are also using it to attack the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart. At a press gathering in Denver, Stewart told reporters that Fox’s “fair and balanced” slogan is an insult “to people with brains” and that he was “stunned to see Karl Rove on a news network as an analyst.” An anonymous flack at Fox (even their PR people are afraid to identify themselves) responded by saying that Stewart was “out of touch” and cited their skewed take on the Pew study as support. But then they went further to deliver a gratuitous and immaterial zinger:

“But being out of touch with mainstream America is nothing new to Jon, as evidenced by the crash-and-burn ratings of this year’s Oscars telecast.”

According to Fox, the ratings of a strike-hobbled awards show is now the measure of Stewart’s ability to connect with mainstream America. Never mind the unprecedented success of the Daily Show. And never mind the fact that Fox News has been been bleeding viewers for the past two years and is growing slower than any of their competitors. For a network that is so demonstrably out of touch, as illustrated above, they shouldn’t be flinging insults at Jon Stewart. They may come to regret that.

As an added plus to this deceptive advertisement from Fox, notice that they are using the elephant logo of the Republican Party in the ad. I assume they are not aware that the Republicans have asserted their copyright protection of that image and have threatened to sue those who use it without permission. I wonder if the Party will sue Fox News for this flagrant infringement. I’m guessing they won’t since Fox is a de facto division of the Republican Party anyway.


What Republicans Think Of John McCain

Posted by on August 24, 2008 at 12:33 pm. 1 Comments :

John McCain has released a flurry of hastily produced ads following the announcement of Joe Biden as Barack Obama’s running mate. The ads feature Democrats, including Biden saying uncomplimentary things about Obama. But mostly they feature the desperation of McCain as he grasps for something with which to prop up his pathetic campaign. The latest ad closes with the tag line, “The Truth Hurts.” McCain is precisely correct about that, though not in the way he imagines. There are some serious problems with this advertising strategy that will shortly become evident.

First, the quotes from Democrats were made primarily when they were competing with Obama for the nomination. Most voters are fully aware that remarks made in the heat of a campaign are quickly retracted and forgotten after a nominee is selected. What’s more, McCain is just as vulnerable to such attack ads featuring Republicans disparaging him and his policies. In fact he is more vulnerable, because there are many instances of Republicans bashing McCain throughout the years who were not political opponents. This video presents just a few examples.

McCain’s problems don’t lie just in what fellow Republicans say about him. His vulnerability also extends to the many ill-tempered rants he has directed at his colleagues. For instance:

  • “Fuck you…This is chickenshit stuff.” Directed at Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in an immigration debate.
  • “Only an asshole would put together a budget like this…I wouldn’t call you an asshole unless you really were an asshole.” Directed at Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) while marking up legislation.
  • Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) to McCain during a debate on MIA’s: “Are you calling me stupid?” McCain: “No. I’m calling you a fucking jerk!”

The media, as usual, is continuing to donate airtime to McCain’s propaganda. The recent ads were announced by the campaign, but they have never purchased air time to broadcast them. The thinly disguised intent here is simply to get the press to contribute free air time to McCain. And the press is complying like the little zombie poodles that they are. Therefore, as usual, it will be up to the blogosphere to enlighten the voting population. So keep spreading the word, because the word is the truth, and, as we all know…the Truth Hurts.


Barack Obama Picks Joe Biden – So Does John McCain

Posted by on August 23, 2008 at 3:21 am. 11 Comments :

It didn’t take long for news of Barack Obama’s selection of Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate to stir John McCain’s campaign PR machine. The first comments from McCain’s people were released quickly and contained a fair measure of respect for Biden himself. In fact, they relied wholly on Biden’s assessment of Obama when they were competing for the Democratic nomination:

“There has been no harsher critic of Barack Obama’s lack of experience than Joe Biden. Biden has denounced Barack Obama’s poor foreign policy judgment and has strongly argued in his own words what Americans are quickly realizing — that Barack Obama is not ready to be President.”

Clearly McCain has admiration for Biden’s opinions. So McCain presumably would agree just as vigorously with Biden’s assessment of him.

“John McCain remains wedded to the Bush Administration’s myopic view of a world defined by terrorism […] It’s time for a fundamental change, but that’s going to require more than a great soldier. It’s going to require a wise leader” […] “We cannot keep treading water without exhausting ourselves and more importantly doing great damage to our other vital interests around the world and at home. And that’s exactly what President Bush and a President McCain would be asking us to do.”

Apparently there has been no harsher critic of McCain’s lack of judgment than Joe Biden. McCain can hardly praise Biden’s insight with regard to Obama yet dismiss it with regard to himself. Therefore, McCain must agree that his own world view is myopic, unwise, and damaging to our country’s interests.

McCain’s surrogates on his staff and in the press are also busy spinning the Biden announcement. Most of the criticism falls into two categories:

1) The selection of Biden, with his strong foreign policy credentials, is an admission on the part of Obama that he is weak in those areas.

I’m sure they will apply the same logic when McCain selects, for instance, Mitt Romney, concluding that Romney’s economic skills affirms McCain’s ignorance in financial matters.

2) Biden is gaffe-prone due to his willingness to say whatever is on his mind.

In some circles that is called “straight talk” and is painted on the sides of campaign buses.

There is speculation amongst the pundit class that McCain will shortly have ads on the air featuring Biden saying nasty things about Obama. If I were advising the Obama media team, I would suggest that they do it first – with a touch of humor – and add Biden’s more recent criticisms of McCain. This is the inoculation school of campaign advertising and would take the sting out of McCain’s attempts to exploit remarks made by Biden when he was seeking the party’s nomination himself. And of course, be ready with ads of McCain’s VP choice knocking him down a peg or two. Almost every Republican has in the past year, so it would be easy to compile.

Isn’t politics fun?


McCain Photo Leaked From Republican Convention Hall

Posted by on August 22, 2008 at 10:53 pm. 3 Comments :

As Democrats finalize preparation for their convention starting Monday, Republicans are still getting their event organized. However, News Corpse has obtained a secretly taken photo from the tightly secured rehearsal hall:

This photo confirms that McCain’s campaign strategy for the fall is going to rely on his status as a prisoner of war. In 1967, John McCain was shot out of the North Vietnamese sky, crash landed in a lake, taken prisoner, and held in captivity for … 41 years, so far.

McCain can’t refrain from exploiting his terrible ordeal as a prop to boost his electoral prospects. After using his captivity as a cynical and absurd response to his housing controversy, you wonder just how far he will take it. Trapper John at Daily Kos speculated earlier today as to how McCain’s camp would respond to any controversy that might arise:

McCain Accused Of Taking Bribes From Abramoff: “This is a guy who didn’t touch hard currency for five and a half years — in prison,” spokesman Brian Rogers told the Washington Post.

2003 McCain Arrest for DWI Uncovered: “This is a guy who didn’t have a sip of booze for five and a half years — in prison,” spokesman Brian Rogers told the Washington Post.

McCain Caught Cheating With 22 Year-Old ASU Intern: “This is a guy who didn’t get laid at all for five and a half years — in prison,” spokesman Brian Rogers told the Washington Post.

Surprisingly, the media is not being led around on a leash like they usually are. Many are incredulous that McCain would so foolishly dilute the impact of what is his most compelling story.

Time: The McCain campaign’s constant invocation of the candidate’s POW past is weird bordering on irrational […] It’s a head-spinning non sequitur, designed to distract us from something mildly troubling with the assertion of something impressive.

Newsweek: I think they are going to it way too many times…. I think he wisely for many years stayed away from it as a political tool, he really did. But now it not only defines him, it’s become a crutch in the campaign. And I think he is in danger of trivializing it.

Politico: It does seem like they’re flirting with Giuliani/9/11 territory here, in which a subject that seems utterly immune to humor, used as a first resort, suddenly becomes a running joke among your political enemies and your late night comic friends.

Talking Points Memo: The McCain campaign is cranking out all these bills with a little ‘McCain as P.O.W.’ logo on it and is trying to use them to buy their way out of every controversy that comes along. Pretty soon the McCain team’s money won’t be good anywhere.

Huffington Post: …to see McCain resort to playing the POW card when answering legitimate questions, in my mind, cheapens that experience. And by cheapening his own experience in war, he degrades all of our experiences in war. He turns the horrific incidents we’ve all seen, touched, smelled, and felt into a lame excuse to earn political points. And it dishonors us all.

‘Nuff said.


McCain’s Spokesman Doth Protest Too Much

Posted by on August 21, 2008 at 8:21 pm. NO Comments :

After months of assailing Barack Obama as an elitist, the truth started to leak out today when John McCain was asked how many homes he owns. McCain, inexplicably, couldn’t answer the question and told the reporter that someone on his staff would get back to him. [The answer is seven, but McCain’s staff lied about that too, saying that it was four]

Finally, the reality that it is not the son of a single mother who worked his way through college who is the elitist, is beginning to come through. It is McCain, the 3rd generation Naval officer, career politician, and multimillionaire, who is not only elitist, but thoroughly out of the mainstream of American culture.

When the Obama campaign leapt at McCain’s ignorance of his own real estate holdings, they must have touched a nerve on the notoriously short-fused McCain. In response McCain dispatched his spokes hatchetman, Brian Rogers, to deliver some of the most over-the-top retorts of the campaign to date. For example:

On Obama’s only home: “It’s a frickin’ mansion. He doesn’t tell people that. You have a mansion you bought in a shady deal with a convicted felon.”

Rogers apparently thinks he is making debating points by conceding that Obama has only one residence – one that may be quite lovely, but which he earned through hard work. The shady deal reference is nothing but innuendo that has never held water. But Rogers considers it fair game now:

On Tony Rezko: “You are going to see more of that now that this issue has been joined. You’ll see more of the Rezko matter from us.”

Thanks for the warning. But we already knew that you would be spewing lies with abandon. It’s all your candidate has to campaign on. Well, that and a little affair that happened forty years ago.

On McCain as POW: “This is a guy who lived in one house for five and a half years — in prison.”

McCain seems determined to turn his Southeast Asian ordeal into a joke. Trapper John at Daily Kos extended this argument to several other scandalous events that McCain might endure, like being caught with young intern. In which case Rogers would excuse the affair because “This is a guy who didn’t get laid at all for five and a half years — in prison.”

On Obama’s diet: “I think people have made a judgment that John McCain is not an arugula-eating, pointy headed professor-type.”

This slam on Obama continues the idiotic notion that education and intelligence disqualifies one from public service. Does the fact that McCain eats strained prunes and graduated fifth from the bottom of his class make him a better candidate for president?

Rogers went on to declare that Obama was guilty of making “by far the most personal attack,” of the campaign merely by revealing the fact that McCain is a wealthy owner of multiple properties, and correctly suggesting that most Americans know how many houses they own. But I hardly think that that is more personally offensive than McCain saying that Obama would prefer that American lose a war in order to boost his candidacy.

The reaction from the McCain camp is the best indication that Obama’s people have hit the right tone. They should keep it up and watch McCain’s blood pressure rise as he runs out of stupid insults to throw around. He will be reduced to stammering and slander and running from real issues. And everyone will know it.

Find us on Google+
Advertisement:

John McCain And The Ambition To Be President

Posted by on August 20, 2008 at 1:50 pm. 2 Comments :

As if there weren’t already enough examples of John McCain’s dishonesty and hypocrisy, he has delivered another strikingly brazen illustration of just how far he will go to promote himself and to demean his opponent, Barack Obama. And it’s all captured on video:

A News Corpse Video:

The video above shows McCain speaking a few days ago when he repeated an attack that has become a standard part of his stump speech. Along with alleging that Obama would sell out his country for his personal gain, McCain has been accusing him of having “ambition” (the horror!).

McCain: Even in retrospect, he would choose the path of retreat and failure for America over the path of success and victory. Behind all of these claims and positions by Senator Obama lies the ambition to be president. What’s missing is the judgment to be commander in chief.

Setting aside for the moment that every candidate that has ever run for the presidency had ambition, McCain has taken hypocrisy to a new level. In his 2002 biography, Worth the Fighting For, McCain says this about himself:

McCain: “I didn’t decide to run for president to start a national crusade for the political reforms I believed in or to run a campaign as if it were some grand act of patriotism. In truth, I wanted to be president because it had become my ambition to be president. . . . In truth, I’d had the ambition for a long time.”

So, who is the callously ambitious, self-serving politician, Johnny?


The Rachel Maddow Show Coming Soon To A TV Near You

Posted by on August 19, 2008 at 5:32 pm. 9 Comments :

MSNBC announced today that Rachel Maddow will be getting her own show following Keith Olbermann’s Countdown. The program is scheduled to debut on September 8, 2008, just in time for the general election circus. This is a move long expected by insiders, or at least by me.

Maddow is one of the brightest stars in the cable news galaxy. She is insightful and courageous and elegantly articulate. Her show will help to fill a gap in the MSNBC line-up. Dan Abrams, whom Maddow will replace, has failed to capitalize on Olbermann’s lead-in. His show was more a collection of segments than a show, and it had no personality. Maddow, on the other hand, has the potential of creating a program that will build on its lead-in. She appeals to a young demo which MSNBC draws in large numbers. Countdown actually beats its competition, including the O’Reilly Factor, in the 18-49 demo. And Maddow will appeal to MSNBC’s core audience that recent surveys show leans Democratic by 2-to-1 (compared to Fox News’ 9-to-1 right leaning audience). Abrams was a political fence-sitter who couldn’t hold Olbermann’s viewers, but Maddow could make use of him for episodes of “Beat the Press” and commentary on legal stories (his work on Don Siegleman was the best on TV).

Success, however, is not guaranteed. First of all, we have not seen the show or its format. If they make the mistake of patterning it off of David Gregory’s “Race for the White House” it will be a huge disappointment. The last thing cable news needs is another descendant of the Crossfire genus of shouting matches that has already proved to be a failure. Secondly, she will air opposite Fox News’ popular “Hannity and Not Hannity,” and CNN’s Larry King. She will need to aggregate progressive, reality-based viewers from across the dial in order to compete. As I’ve previously noted, Fox News has cornered the market on right-wingers. Democrats and progressives are scattered across the grid. The key to success for Maddow (and for MSNBC overall) is to do a better job of pulling this audience together.

There will be a built in high interest for the debut week that will have to grab the viewers and make them instantaneously loyal. At the same time, she should expect to take some heat from the Foxian Culture Warriors like Bill O’Reilly, who has made bashing MSNBC, NBC, and Keith Olbermann, a sacrament of his demented faith. Rightist media is unlikely to welcome her into their club as the only woman anchoring a political show, and a lesbian at that.

Congratulations Rachel, and good luck.


Don’t Forget Limbaugh’s Threat: Riot In Denver

Posted by on August 18, 2008 at 6:07 pm. NO Comments :

A week from today the Democrats will begin their nominating convention in Denver. This seems like a good time to recall the incitations to violence that were voiced last April by Rush Limbaugh.

The Conventional Media is as consumed today with trivialities as it was four months ago when they virtually ignored Limbaugh’s overt and repulsive call to arms. There is nothing ambiguous about his remarks. They are brazen and obvious, and I re-post them here today in the interest of promoting accountability. I certainly hope that nothing like the nightmare Limbaugh has articulated comes to pass. But should he and his followers succeed with their evil scheme, everyone should know where to lay the blame. [The following was originally published April 25, 2008]

Limbaugh: “Now, I am not inspiring or inciting riots. I’m dreaming. (singing to the tune of White Christmas) I’m dreaming of riots in Denver. Remember 1968?”

Limbaugh says that he isn’t inciting riots, but merely dreaming of them. That distinction is skimpy to say the least. Is he so naive that it has not occurred to him that some portion of his 14 million listeners might be motivated to help him see his dreams come true? Of all the well-deserved criticisms that can be leveled at this ego-bloated pundi-clown, naiveté is not amongst them. He knows the impact of words. He knows his audience. He knows very well the potential consequences of actions.

Limbaugh: “Riots in Denver at the Democrat convention would see to it we don’t elect Democrats – and that’s the best damn thing could happen for this country as far as anything I can think.”

Is it possible to deliberately instigate violence more explicitly than that? The title of this article, “Screw the World! Riot in Denver!” was lifted verbatim from Limbaugh’s web site. That is an unambiguous directive to his listeners who are not called “dittoheads” for nothing. But Limbaugh grants himself somewhat more leeway to engage in hypocrisy. Apparently there are worse things than electing Democrats – i.e. electing John McCain.

Limbaugh: “If I believe the country will suffer with either Hillary, Obama or McCain, I would just as soon the Democrats take the hit … rather than a Republican causing the debacle.”

That, however, hasn’t stopped McCain from pursuing Limbaugh’s favor. Just last February Politico reported that, according to Republican sources, McCain sent an emissary to bring Limbaugh into the fold.

The questions for today are: Will McCain denounce and reject Limbaugh’s repugnant and dangerous remarks? Will the media give an equal amount of airtime to Limbaugh’s lunacy as they did to Rev. Wright’s rant? Will Hell freeze over?

It would be too optimistic to entertain the notion that Limbaugh would be fired over this. He makes too much money for his greedy broadcast benefactors. But if Limbaugh doesn’t face some sort of sanction for this, then what would produce a sanction? Would he have to show up in Denver with a trunk full of Molotov cocktails? Would we need a canceled check payable to Outside Agitators, Inc. (a subsidiary of Blackwater)? If there is trouble in Denver, will there be an investigation to ascertain whether the troublemakers were Limb-bots?

There may not be answers to these questions today, but we must not stop asking them. And we must not stop prodding the press to ask as well. And we must not forget to ask them after the convention. If there is trouble in Denver, if blood is spilled, it will be on Limbaugh’s hands.

Updated to add: More comments from Limbaugh advocating violence:

“I mean, if people say what’s your exit strategery, the dream end of this is that this keeps up to the convention and that we have a replay of Chicago 1968, with burning cars, protests, fires, literal riots, and all of that. That’s the objective here.”

Contact Premiere Radio Networks, Limbaugh’s Clear Channel-owned syndicator, and tell them that inciting violence is illegal and unacceptable.

Here’s a link to Limbaugh’s advertisers who might want to reconsider sponsoring a program that advocates violence.

You can also file a complaint with the FCC.


McCain Coach Working The Refs

Posted by on August 18, 2008 at 2:02 pm. NO Comments :

Following the candidates forum at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church, a minor controversy erupted with regard to the participants playing fair. The ground rules called for each candidate to be asked the same questions. Therefore, John McCain was to be isolated so that he could not gain an advantage by hearing the questions as they were asked to Barack Obama, who went first.

As it turns out, McCain was not in the “Cone of Silence” as stated by Rev. Warren. Instead, he was en route to the church where he could have plausibly listened to Obama’s interview or been briefed on it by a staffer. Andrea Mitchell reported on Meet the Press that some Obama supporters were questioning whether McCain did, in fact, cheat:

“The Obama people must feel that he didn’t do quite as well as they might have wanted to in that context, because what they are putting out privately is that McCain may not have been in the cone of silence and may have had some ability to overhear what the questions were to Obama. He seemed so well-prepared.”

This set off McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, who fired off an angry letter to NBC president, Steve Capus. The letter said in part…

“We are extremely disappointed to see that the level of objectivity at NBC News has fallen so low that reporters are now giving voice to unsubstantiated, partisan claims in order to undercut John McCain.”

Reporters giving voice to unsubstantiated, partisan claims has been routine in this campaign. Though they have mostly been aimed at Obama. McCain’s people have relentlessly spewed nonsense about Obama’s faith, his patriotism, and his agenda on everything from war to energy to taxes. It is apparently OK if reporters give voice to unsubstantiated, partisan claims if they come from McCain.

Davis’ disingenuous indignation is especially pathetic in this context. In his own letter he quotes Mitchell as saying that the Obama campaign was less than thrilled with his performance. Conversely he notes Mitchell’s assertion that McCain seemed well prepared. Mitchell’s report was actually declaring McCain the winner of the debate, and yet, Davis still finds cause to complain.

McCain’s spokeswoman, Nicolle Wallace, also commented on the affair. In her remarks she pointedly accused the Obama campaign of having “lost its bearings.” I wonder if the intent of that language is meant to imply that she believes Obama may be senile. That’s exactly what McCain adviser Mark Salter alleged when Obama used the same words last May to describe McCain.

This fake outrage on the part of Davis, Wallace, et al, is nothing more than another transparent attempt to bully the media into shaping coverage that is one-sided and positive in favor of McCain. And the really sad part of this cynical and manipulative whining is that it has a damn good chance of working.