In a WaPo story criticizing the Obama administration for a long series of mistakes in Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy, this sentence appears: Daniel Levy, a veteran Israeli peace negotiator now at the Century Foundation in Washington, summed up the administration's efforts in recent days as "amateur night at the Apollo Theater." Given that the Apollo Theater is one of the historic landmarks of African-American culture.... On the other hand, you can't lampoon the Century Foundation as rightwing... And Daniel Levy cannot be written off as some hardline conservative.... So in the good spirits of "see, Hube, I found one before you did [finally]" I have to wonder how this one will be treated by the pundits. If at all.

This excerpt from Max Blumenthal's new book Republican Gomorrah has gone damn-near viral on the web : At the Charter School for Excellence, a school in South Florida inspired by Gothard's draconian principles that receives $800,000 in state funds each year, children are indoctrinated into a culture of absolute submission to authority almost as soon as they learn to speak. A song that the school's first-graders are required to recite goes as follows: Obedience is listening attentively, Obedience will take instructions joyfully, Obedience heeds wishes of authorities, Obedience will follow orders instantly. For when I am busy at my work or play, And someone calls my name, I'll answer right away! I'll be ready with a smile to go the extra mile As soon as I can say "Yes, sir!" "Yes ma am!" Hup, two, three! The larger excerpt is actually about the impact of Christian right self-help guru Bill Gothard, and don't get me wrong, Gothard and his devote...

In a story today placing the Van Jones incident in larger context of political infighting and the question of Obama administration czars , the NYT retold the story of Jones' political destruction thus : Jones' downfall is remarkable for its swift and personal nature. The story begins with Beck, who called Obama a "racist" with a "deep-seated hatred for white people" during a "Fox & Friends" program on July 28. Seeking to back up his claim, Beck cited Jones as a "black nationalist who is also an avowed communist." ColorOfChange.org, a group Jones helped launch in 2005, led an advertising boycott of Beck's show. Major advertisers, including Wal-Mart, Mercedes-Benz and HSBC moved their money elsewhere, but Beck's allies took to the Web. On Sept. 1, the group DefendGlenn.com began circulating a video of a California speech in which Jones calls Senate Republicans "assholes" for their legislative tactics. The comment -- re...

The difficulty is that, as the Dems are finding out, the MSM really does like to pick away at whatever side is in power--which is, after all, their f**king job. Thus Helen Thomas, the matriarch of the Washington press corps : Following a testy exchange during today’s briefing with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas told CNSNews.com that not even Richard Nixon tried to control the press the way President Obama is trying to control the press. “Nixon didn’t try to do that,” Thomas said. “They couldn’t control (the media). They didn’t try. “What the hell do they think we are, puppets?” Thomas said. “They’re supposed to stay out of our business. They are our public servants. We pay them.” The transcript of the exchange is worth reading, or you can go here and watch it. The serious question now beginning to be asked by honest observers is whether the Obama administration actually discerns any difference between campaigning and governing...

Two selections regarding comedian Wanda Sykes and her performance at the White House, which included shots about hoping Rush Limbaugh's kidneys fail: Libertarian Republican does outrage. Delawareliberal expects outrage and argues that this is nothing compared to GOP rhetoric. These two reactions, as you well know, will be repeated and juxtaposed across the blogosphere ad nauseum , but the interesting point is this: If you got your news from USA Today you wouldn't even know that she made the comments. Here is the complete reference to Ms. Sykes routine: That job went to the Wanda Sykes, the evening's entertainment, who made certain the president took some ribbing. "It's hard to poke fun at the president. He's so likeable," said Sykes. "Even the media...It's funny to me, they've never caught you smokin' but they somehow always catch you with your shirt off." Sykes hailed the president's efforts to maintain a normal routine. He...

If I made this a multiple choice question, most people might expect something like Which president does not belong on the list with the others? , with the answer being B. That's because we tend to do our analysis of politicians primarily in terms of policy positions. But FDR, Reagan, Clinton, and Obama represent logical points along a continuum of politicians who succeeded because they were absolute masters of controlling the media narratives of their day. When you look at these four--not in terms of ideology, but in terms of media mastery--you discover a very interesting evolution. FDR existed at the dawn of mass media as we know it. Take two specifics of his media persona: (1) his mastery of the Fireside chat represented an awareness of the influence of radio as a popular media that no other politician of his day ever really grasped; and (2) his ability to keep the print media from showing photographs of him as a cripple [which is the term that would have been applied in tha...

And this is why I cannot take either of the two branches of the Demopublican Party seriously. Because both sides try to score points off crap like this: One of the companies for which I do consulting markets lesson-planning materials for social studies teachers. Like most web-hosting agreements, there is an automated advertising banner included to defray costs, and you get to check topics you think are relevant to your audience. About two months ago we discovered--in abject horror!--that Frederick's of Hollywood and Trojan condoms were randomly popping up on a website meant for middle-school viewing. Not supposed to happen. Couldn't happen, the web hosting guy told us. Did happen, we told him, showing him screen captures. It is likewise true when you put up bulletin boards, people set up outrageous subjects and make ridiculous comments. This is the world we (sadly) live in. And adults need to get over pointing fingers at people about it.

Now, stung by an unusually bad reception for its Gaza attacks in online media, the Israeli Defense Force has decided to go into the spin business itself : Across the world, mainstream journalists are expressing increasing disquiet at the way the Israeli government is trying to manage international coverage of its war on the Gaza Strip. Journalists have been barred not just from the strip itself, but the government is now prohibiting journalists from going to parts of Israel near the Gaza Strip.... The Israeli military has therefore announced that online media and the blogosphere are another warzone for the military to manage. To that end, the military is launching its own Youtube channel to bring the viewing public footage of “precision bombing operations” in the strip. In ensuring that the only footage of their military operation is provided directly from them, the Israeli military is another step closer to completely managing public perception of the ongoing attacks. The military say...

...and the current AP story on Alan Greenspan criticizing Senator John McCain's tax plan is a case in point. Greenspan critiquing the McCain plan (and even the Democratic glee at hearing that critique) are important pieces of news, and deserve the coverage. But, all of a sudden, about the twelfth paragraph, without any transition, the story jumps into problems McCain has connecting with his base and the impact of Sarah Palin on that process... ...which has not a damn thing to do with the rest of the story. So if you actually want to read a substantive story about what Greenspan said, go visit SwampPolitics.com , and hope that the AP sends some of its writers and editors back to English Composition 101.

... when former campaign strategist Mark Penn condemns the media coverage of Sarah Palin : I think that the media is doing the kinds of stories on Palin that they’re not doing on the other candidates. And that’s going to subject them to people concluding that they’re giving her a tougher time. Now, the media defense would be, “Yeah, we looked at these other candidates who have been in public life at an earlier time.” What happened here very clearly is that the controversy over Palin led to 37 million Americans tuning into a vice-presidential speech, something that is unprecedented, because they wanted to see for themselves. This is an election in which the voters are going to decide for themselves. The media has lost credibility with them. Let's see what we've got here: Point one: Hillary avoids being used as an Obama counter-weapon against Sarah Palin . Point two: Mark Penn, noted Democratic strategist and Clintonista , criticizes the media's treatment of Sarah Palin. I...

Yesterday I reported on Meck Deck's observation that the NC media now seems to be operating under some sort of gentleman's agreement not to notice Libertarian Senatorial candidate Chris Cole, even though his 5% standing is larger than the difference between Liddy Dole and Kay Hagan. Chris responded in the comments section, but his words deserve to appear on the front page: The situation has gotten more bizarre than Meck Deck lets on. Public Policy polling issued the results of a poll that included me (at 5%, compared to a 3% margin between Dole and Hagan). I found the poll reported in four NC news sources, all of which REMOVED my name from the report. When I tried to contact the reporters, one didn't respond, a second said that she didn't know about my candidacy. a third said that he FORGOT about my candidacy, and a fourth admitted that it should have been a "no-brainer" (his words) to include me. Yet, I also found the poll reported WITH my name in the New Yo...

Look, I liked the Manchurian Candidate [the original; the remake sucked] as well as the next guy. And I think many of Senator Barack Obama's policies --say it again and put it in bold face-- policies are potential disasters. Especially that one about ignoring Pakistani sovereignty to chase down Osama bin Laden... What I don't doubt is that Barack Obama is a sincere American citizen who believes his leadership and his policies will benefit this country. Maybe also the world, but not specifically Pakistan, Indonesia, Kenya, or Bumfuck, Egypt. What I don't doubt is that comments like this, in Libertarian Republican , are not meant to report the news, but to evoke these patently ridiculous concerns : Americans are tolerant of foreigners and certainly of immigrants to this country. But a major party Presidential candidate with such strong familial and legal ties to questionable countries such as Kenya, Indonesia and now Pakistan, legitimately could raise serious concerns amon...

Yeah, I know that it was primarily a stunt to get Saxby Chambliss on the air, but this mention of Georgia Libertarian Senate candidate Allen Buckley can't hurt. From the Atlanta Journal Constitution : Talk radio’s eruption over the “Gang of Ten” bipartisan energy proposal continued on Monday, as U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss got into it — in polite fashion — with WSB talk guru Neal Boortz over the issue. The topic has percolated since a Wall Street Journal columnist attacked the compromise last Thursday. That syndicated vetter of conservative issues, Rush Limbaugh, railed against it on Friday. Monday was Boortz’ turn. Like others before him, the Atlanta-based radio host complained that the Senate initiative, led on the GOP side by Chambliss, undercut the protests that House Republicans — led by U.S. Rep. Tom Price of Roswell — have generated since Congress left on vacation. Boortz dismissed the way the senators have proposed paying for conservation incentives in the bill as a tax incre...

The first casualty--probably the main casualty--of this year's political season is . . . reality. Senator John McCain appeared recently at the Sturgis [South Dakota] Rally 2008 to speak to an audience of possibly half a million bikers. It was obviously a good audience for McCain, although not a shoe-in. Bikers are notoriously individualistic, generally united by a visceral love of freedom than any shared formal ideology. What interests me here, however, is not McCain himself, but how the event was portrayed by two different media outlets. Politico.com saw it this way: Every summer, nearly half a million motorcyclists descend on Sturgis, an otherwise sleepy town in South Dakota, for a nine-day celebration of all things Harley. This year, the bikers, strippers and rockers were joined by a most unlikely guest: the presumptive Republican nominee for president, John McCain. McCain's appearance before a veteran-heavy audience of several thousand bikers gathered at the Buffalo Chip...

How long will it take for this particular photograph and the controversy it generates to make it from the blogosphere to the mainstream media? Maybe the guy really is just a DEA Stormtrooper wearing a Blackwater T-Shirt because he can . After all, even court rulings no longer matter to the Drug Gestapo. But maybe he's really a contracted Blackwater mercenary. The LA Times isn't talking. None of the MSM has even covered the story. Try to Google "DEA," "Blackwater," and something like "Cuvler city" or "marijuana," and you'll find thousands of entries from the alternative media, along with one or two from the far fringes of the MSM. We haven't even gotten to the point where somebody asks a government spokesman and he denies it. The administration shredding the Constitution is bad. But things go rapidly from bad to worse to the eventual Dubya announcement that due to the terror crisis it wouldn't be responsible of him to risk ...

Remembering that I'm not supporting Bob Barr, I'm still obviously interested in how he's presenting the Libertarian Party, and in how well his campaign is doing. So before you watch it, my initial reactions: 1) It's too long, although it certainly could be mined for shorter segments. 2) I think any number of people will be outraged at the use of Martin Luther King, especially juxtaposed with Ronald Reagan. I think it comes across as forced. 3) The overt appeal to Ron Paul supporters is a bit ham-handed, but we'll see how it plays. 4) Nobody outside the Libertarian movement and its most strident critics actually knows who Ayn Rand was, so it's a good play to the radicals, but they're not listening. 5) Ironically, the best sections of the ad occur when Bob Barr talks about the Obama and McCain. There's the nugget of a very good 30 or 60 second piece in here. So what do you think?

I was skeptical that Allen Buckley would be treated fairly when the AJC announced it would put weekly questions to all Georgia Senatorial candidates. But the paper has kept its word (and continues to be even-handed and objective in its reportage of the whole race). This week's question deals with immigration . It is worth contrasting the fear-mongering, sound-bite-only answer given by GOPer incumbent (and Bob Barr-supported) Saxby Chambliss with the detailed, thoughtful answer provided by Allen Buckley. You don't even have to agree with Buckley to realize that he's trying to bring something new to the campaign: straight answers filled with actual policy details. The Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss : Congress must make every effort to secure our borders and enforce our existing laws. Illegal immigrants will then have no alternative but to leave. Unfortunately, Senate Democrats continue to block measures to stem the tide of illegal immigration. I absolutely oppose a...

Long post warning: in order to preserve the text I'm quoting (because, as you will see, they are changing even as we speak), I'm going to go whole hog and chunk in the whole things rather than just link to them. ********************* The furor over Dubya's comments about appeasement and Obama's response are the context in which I am writing, but they aren't the story. If you hadn't already figured out that politics would eventually end up in the gutter this season, you haven't been paying attention. What interests me is the strange case of Bruce Ramsey of the Seattle Times and his editorial on the use of Hitler and the term "appeasement." Ramsey apparently (you'll see why I use the qualifier in a moment) wanted to set what he considered to be the historical record straight about the continual references to Hitler and Munich in 1938. Which, of course, the right jumped all over like . . . well, I'm spare you the gratuitous simile. Here...

Billionaire mogul Ted Turner has warned that in about 30 years civilization will break down and we will all be cannibals for our failure to address global warming. If that is the case Ted I would like to invite you to my house for dinner. You can wear your famous after shave, what do they call it, oh yeah Hoisin Sauce. Having lived most of my life in Asia, I think I could make good ginger and green onion dumplings out of your man-flesh Ted. You know like that Siberian lady did to her former lover. Ted, I would like to introduce you to my family whose pictures I have sprinkled throughout the article. Ted Turner: Global warming could lead to cannibalism Billionaire environmentalist says world has too many peopleBy MIKE MORRIS The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionPublished on: 04/03/08 Failure to address global warming will have us all dead or eating each other by mid-century. So says Ted Turner, the restaurateur, environmentalist and former media mogul whose controversial comments have ea...

Steve wrote an interesting look at why someone like Pat Buchanan should not be painted with a broad condemnation brush and written-off solely based on his comments related to race. Buchanan gave a very interesting analysis * of the war issue and the larger ideological context in which it resides : [ * - Jeanne Kirkpatrick was a professor of mine at Georgetown University. From 1994-95 I studied in her courses 'Critique of Utopia' and 'Capitalism, Competition, and Democracy' .] I agree with everything Buchanan says in the video but do I agree with everything Buchanan says anywhere else I have heard him? Certainly not but it worries me not an iota because , as Steve mentioned, he is not elected and has no public power to wield over any of us. Nevertheless, as the above video attests, Buchanan has had valid and insightful ideas and analyses for many big questions, not the least of which was a very realpolitik critique of the Iraq war. Even more, his critique was based n...