Robert Novak, demonstrating his legendary prescience in all things political, is now challenging The National Enquirer for top credibility status.

From Novak’s 10/16 column:
Possible indictment not keeping Rove from fund-raising
While colleagues express concern that presidential adviser Karl Rove could be indicted in the CIA leak case, he continues to be scheduled for private fund-raisers by the Republican National Committee.

From CBS News 10/18:
Rove Cancels Fund-raising Appearances
Rove canceled plans to attend two Republican fund-raisers, the national party confirmed Tuesday. And he did not give his scheduled speech to the conservative Hudson Institute think tank on Oct. 11.

It only took two days for Novak’s proud assertion – that Rove is still the administration’s cash magnet – to go south. Thus exposing the growing irrelevance of both Rove and Novak.

The CBS report further stated that…
Republican National Committee spokesman Brian Jones said that Rove, who is Bush’s top political aide, currently has no plans to appear at upcoming RNC events.
and…
“Once considered an ‘A-list’ guest for any Republican, special-interest fund-raiser, it seems that Karl Rove has now become a liability for the Republican Party,” said DNC spokesman Josh Earnest.

Novak does, however, point out that the president’s magic is also questionable:
President Bush is scheduled to raise money at a reception and dinner in Los Angeles Thursday. That ignores the request by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that the president stay out of California prior to the Nov. 8 election on several propositions favored by the governor.

All of this raises the question of, who can the Republicans depend on to finance their campaign efforts in 2006 and beyond. With Bush, Cheney, Schwarzenegger, etc., becoming pariahs, and Rove, Frist, DeLay, etc., getting fitted for striped pajamas, that pretty much leaves Laura and Barney. Consequently, they will either have to go on the road without any stars, or just concentrate their efforts on the true-believers from the 700 Club. The latter solution would surely result in the Republican agenda stretching even farther outside the mainstream. Which may be Novak’s secret plan.

There’s been a lot of misinformation circulating in the media regarding Tom DeLay’s recent indictments. In the spirit of fairness, I thought I would give him equal time:

There, does that clear things up?

Sonoma State University’s Project Censored has released their 2006 edition of the top 25 stories that went unreported or under-reported by the corporate media. Ending the suspense, I will reveal now that the number 1 story is about Bush Administration Moves to Eliminate Open Government.

I’m shocked I tell you, shocked!

Here’s the rest of the top 10:

• 2. Media Coverage Fails on Iraq: Fallujah and the Civilian Deathtoll
• 3. Another Year of Distorted Election Coverage
• 4. Surveillance Society Quietly Moves In
• 5. U.S. Uses Tsunami to Military Advantage in Southeast Asia
• 6. The Real Oil for Food Scam
• 7. Journalists Face Unprecedented Dangers to Life and Livelihood
• 8. Iraqi Farmers Threatened By Bremer’s Mandates
• 9. Iran’s New Oil Trade System Challenges U.S. Currency
• 10. Mountaintop Removal Threatens Ecosystem and Economy

The lastest marriage between big media and Washington politics was announced yesterday. Tom DeLay’s chief of staff, Tim Berry, has been hired by Time Warner. His official title is vice president of global public policy, also known as big-time, oily-palmed lobbyist. The L. A. Times says that:

The hiring of Berry is aimed at boosting Time Warner’s influence with the GOP.

I was not aware that Time Warner had a deficit of influence with Republicans. The CEO, Richard Parsons is a long-time supporter and a former aide to then-Governor Nelson Rockefeller and President Gerald Ford. Berry’s new boss is Carol Melton who was also hired this year. In her previous position as Viacom’s top lobbyist she allocated 61 percent of the company’s political action committee contributions to Republican candidates and 38 percent to Democrats. But apparently Time Warner still feels some measure of insecurity.

Perhaps it’s because Republicans have been strong-arming corporations to hire more GOP lobbyists and threatening to punish them legislatively if they hire any Democrats. An initiative known as the K Street Project was started by Tom DeLay and Grover Norquist, the arch conservative behind Americans For Tax Reform. Its purpose is to monitor the political affiliations of lobbyists at the biggest corporations so that those who don’t play ball can be targeted for retribution.

Corporate America is all too willing to pay their protection money and reap the benefits of special treatment with regard to legislation and regulation. And the media just gets further wrapped up in the interests of corporations and politicians to the detriment of ordinary citizens. The consequences of this coziness cannot be overstated. Politicians are enjoying a windfall of contributions from their wealthy corporate benefactors. And the media, whose public image is already at record lows, becomes even less trustworthy. For instance, what effect can we expect Tim Berry’s hiring to have on CNN’s reporting about Berry’s old boss Tom DeLay? With indictments of Delay’s associates piling up in Texas, and the House Ethics Committee preparing for hearings, DeLay must feel a certain sense of comfort knowing that his former chief of staff is directing CNN’s parent company’s public policy affairs.