Permanent link to MTA daily media news 

Justice Department Nixes Net Neutrality
The Justice Department said Internet service providers should be allowed to charge a fee for priority Web traffic.

UP IS DOWN AND VICE-VERSA….
Juan Cole is pissed:  “I saw on CNN this smarmy Bush administration official come and and say that US troop deaths had fallen because of the surge, which is why we should support it. US troop deaths haven’t fallen. They are way up… There are always seasonal variations because in the summer it is 120 F. in the shade and guerrillas are too heat-exhausted to fight; but the summer 2007 numbers are much greater than those for summer 2006; that isn’t progress.”
A.J. Rossmiller of AMERICAblog predicted this maneuver back in December of last year.

Criticism Of McClatchy Surge Story Sparks Online Response
After receiving what McClatchy Washington Bureau Chief John Walcott described as “more vehement” criticism than usual for a story claiming a decline in Iraq combat deaths, the bureau posted an unusual online response to the critics Thursday.

Will the Press Again Serve as ‘Surge Protectors’?
Everyone remembers the media failures in the run-up to the war. But nearly as tragic was the performance by the press in the weeks before the “surge” was announced in January. Now what will happen over the next few days?

Just 39% Believe Iraq Report Will Honestly Present Petraeus Views; 35% Say It Will Not
General David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, will be issuing a formal progress report on the situation in Iraq next week. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that … just 39% [of Americans] believe the report will honestly and accurately reflect the General’s true assessment of the situation in Iraq. Thirty-five percent (35%) say it will not while 26% are not sure.

O’Hanlon Rips GAO Report: It Is ‘Flat-Out Sloppy’
Brookings analyst Michael O’Hanlon … attacked the GAO, choosing instead to laud the Pentagon’s distortions [on conditions in Iraq]. In an analysis only he could offer, O’Hanlon rips the GAO report for being both “overly rigorous” and “flat-out sloppy”… By attacking the GAO, O’Hanlon has defied the community of national security experts he alleges to be a part of and has instead allied himself with the discredited ranks of the Bush administration and right-wing lawmakers. Ironically, while O’Hanlon bashes the GAO when he doesn’t like what it says, his very own Iraq Index borrows heavily from GAO reports.

FOXNews/GOP Debate: “All we’re doing is saving face”
Wow. An almost authentic debate moment at the FOXNews/GOP debate. Ron Paul tells Mike Huckabee that it isn’t “honor” as Huckabee insists keeping us in Iraq, it’s a desire to save face.
Click through to watch the video.

Thomas Friedman: Hooked On War
Reading his “Letter From Baghdad” column in the New York Times on Sept. 5, you’d never know that Thomas Friedman has a history of enthusiasm for war.

Wishin’ and hopin’ and waitin’
Ret. Army Colonel and former Chief of Staff to Colin Powell, Lawrence Wilkerson, sits in with Keith [Olbermann] and blasts Bush for his lack of planning for post-war Iraq and the revelation that Bush, regardless of what party the next president belongs to, he envisions a long-term presence in Iraq. In the end, Wilkerson rightfully shows his disgust with Democrats as they cower in fear of right-wing talking points and show no sign of true leadership in ending the nightmare.
Click through to watch the video.

Switching Sides
TPM Reader JB gets it … “I’m surprised there hasn’t been more commentary in the press and blogosphere regarding the fact that, in simplest terms, whatever “progress” we are making in Iraq is a function of the fact that we have switched sides. I don’t think the U.S. public, or even the media, are really grasping the fact that we are fighting for Saddam’s people now, and the Shia are rapidly becoming the primary target (along with the mystical “Al Queda”). The silence on the topic is a little eerie.”

Bin Laden plans new video
CAIRO, Egypt – The first new images of Osama bin Laden in nearly three years will be released ahead of the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, al-Qaida’s media arm announced, a move that would end the terror mastermind’s longest period without a message.

Let Bush Be Reagan (by Bill Maher)
New Rule: For the next 18 months, let Bush be Reagan. A completely dissociative personality who lets the real work of the nation go on elsewhere, while he sits behind his desk and hums. I don’t think the problem is that Bush lives in a bubble. I say make the bubble thicker. Use the armor we can’t get to the troops. For example, on this whole “bomb Iran” thing. Let’s not, and just tell him we did… He’ll never know.

O’Reilly: Media Matters, MoveOn are ‘vicious assassins.’
On his radio show [Wednesday], Bill O’Reilly called Media Matters and MoveOn.org “the most vicious element in our society today” and referred to their employees as “assassins.” He also claimed that there is “no corresponding level of this kind of vitriol on the right.”
Click through to listen to the audio.

Judith Miller’s New Post: She’ll Take Manhattan
NEW YORK Judith Miller, the former New York Times reporter who left the paper amid tumult over her role in the Plame/CIA leak case, has accepted a position at the the conservative Manhattan Institute in New York City… [Quoting] a release from her: “The Manhattan Institute is doing pioneering work in policing and counter-terrorism. As an adjunct fellow, I hope to continue writing about how best to enhance national security and public safety without sacrificing our freedom and civil liberties.”
It wasn’t just her role in the CIA leak case that did her in.  Worse, to me, was her role in promoting the lies that got us into the war in Iraq.

Michael Medved: DADT provides protection from toe-tappers
Poor Michael Medved of Town Hall. He bloviates in his column that lifting Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell will result in an explosion of toe-tapping cruising in the latrines… Does he not realize that Larry Craig has said he’s not gay, and that the Atlanta police department found that the majority of men busted in his stings are married with kids? How, exactly then, will DADT prevent bathroom hookups if self-proclaimed heterosexuals are engaging in public, anonymous homosex?

Newspapers with 2020 vision
“By 2020, we had better hope that newspapers aren’t just papers anymore but are valued members of larger networks that enable their communities to gather, share, and make sense of the news they need.”

Hillary Rolls on: Are the Netroots a Paper Tiger?
Why isn’t there greater opposition to Hillary Clinton’s candidacy by the progressive online movement?

High-Speed Video Store in the Living Room
Vudu’s new $400 movie box, to be available at month’s end, offers a choice of nearly 5,000 films.

Envisioning the Next Chapter for Electronic Books
Two new offerings from Web giants this fall will test if consumers are ready to leave the paper book behind.

Google Book Search Adds Personalization Options
Google has added some new features to its Book Search [Thursday]. With the new features, Google gives you for book results are the ability to add it to your library, write a review, buy it from various online retailers or borrow it from a local library.

Comic Books Now Available on Cell Phones
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Sean Demory realized a long-held dream of becoming a published comic book writer when “Thunder Road,” a post-apocalyptic adventure he developed with artist Steven Sanders, was released. But don’t look for the tales of Merritt and his buddies on the shelves of a comic book store or even the Internet. “Thunder Road” is the first comic book released in the U.S. exclusively on a cell phone, part of a lineup of mobile comic books offered by Kansas City-based uClick.