Permanent link to MTA daily media news

NO TORTURE. NO EXCEPTIONS…. (by Kevin Drum at Political Animal, The Washington Monthly)
The latest issue of the Monthly is devoted to a single subject: torture. An editors’ note explains: “In most issues of the Washington Monthly, we favor articles that we hope will launch a debate. In this issue we seek to end one. The unifying message of the articles that follow is, simply, Stop.” What follows is a set of 37 short essays by writers from all over the political spectrum, from Bob Barr on the right to Nancy Pelosi and Jimmy Carter on the left.

Ugly coverage (by Howard Kurtz, The Washington Post)
The media narrative for this next phase of the Democratic campaign is now set, as firmly as if the top players had secretly hammered out a memo over drinks at the Palm. Hint: It’s not, what a great race! Nor is it, what a remarkable comeback for Hillary Clinton! Or even, I always wanted to cover a Puerto Rico primary! No, the plot line is that Hillary went “negative,” thereby extending the race, screwing up our vacation plans, boring America to death and–this is the important part–sending the Democratic Party to the very gates of hell.

Bob Schieffer Commentary: The Politics Of Name Calling (by Logan Murphy at Crooks and Liars)
In light of this week’s resignation of Obama adviser, Samantha Power, for calling Hillary Clinton a monster, Face The Nation host, Bob Schieffer, decided to chime in on the history of name calling in politics… Schieffer: “…But here’s the other side. Creative name calling is as much a part of American politics as waving Old Glory. Back in 1952 when Harry Truman called Republicans a bunch of Snollygusters, it set off such a shock wave that my late colleague, Eric Sevareid, thought it necessary to counsel calmness. After all he said, Truman’s remark wasn’t nearly as bad as when President McKinley’s opponents said he had the backbone of a chocolate eclair.”
Click through to watch the video.

Hillary and the Invisible Women  (by Tina Brown, Newsweek, thanks to Taylor Marsh)
Much has been written about how boomer women have rallied to Hillary’s cause (she won an impressive 67 percent of the white women voting in Ohio; they were 44 percent of the total). It’s fashionable to write off this core element of her base as rabid paleo-feminists fighting the tired old gender wars of the past. But Hillary’s appeal to the boomer gals is wider and deeper than that. Cynthia Ruccia, a grass-roots political organizer in Columbus, told me that in these last beleaguered weeks, women started showing up in waves at Clinton headquarters—women who told her they had never volunteered in a campaign before. “There was just an outpouring about the way she was being treated by the media,” Ruccia said. “It was something we hadn’t seen in a long time. We all felt, as women, we had made a lot of progress, and we saw this as an attack of misogyny that was trying to beat her down.” It’s a revolt that has been overdue for a while and has now found its focus in Clinton’s candidacy.
And there’s nothing that inflames us female Clinton supporters more than the kind of dismissal shown below.  Keep it up, Obama supporters, you create new Clinton supporters every single time you treat her with contempt.

Daschle: First lady experience doesn’t count for Clinton (The Hill)
Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) on Sunday questioned Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (N.Y.) pitching of herself as the most experienced candidate in the Democratic presidential race, suggesting her years as first lady do not add much to her foreign policy credentials.

Thin Skinned Obama Fans (by Larry Johnson at No Quarter)
[S]top bitching about Hillary raising legitimate questions about Barack’s experience and judgment.  Those are valid points worth debating.  If nothing else, it gives Barack and his group of advisers a chance to hone their message.   Because you can count on this–come September the Republicans and their 527 allies will pound the dogshit out of him… Hillary Clinton … has several things in her favor that Barack cannot begin to achieve.  She has traveled extensively overseas and she has represented the U.S. Government in official diplomatic exchanges.  While these were not negotiations with North Korea or the Palestinians, it still put her in the position of understanding how to interact appropriately in a foreign environment and make an effective case… Hillary Clinton, whatever faults you want to focus on, understands the bureaucracies and understands the infighting that inevitably accompanies the task of governing… [This] is critical experience that someone who aspires to be an effective President must have.

Was There an Obama-Daley Deal on the Presidency? (by Rick Moran at PoliGazette)
[W]hat led Mayor Daley, normally reluctant to endorse a presidential candidate in the primaries, to give the nod to Obama?… In effect, Obama surrendered to the Machine by promising to endorse its corrupt mayor rather than his reform minded challenger… That’s not all. A couple of months later, Obama endorsed another crook from the Machine… This behavior is not unusual for Obama if you examine the record… Obama’s political career is replete with examples of opportunism, cynical deal making, hack politics, and business as usual relationships with crooks and scam artists like Tony Rezko. His entire presidential campaign is built on a lie; that he is a different kind of politician and will be able to change the way business is done in Washington.

Chicago Way the only way to settle Obama-Clinton tiff (by John Kass, Chicago Tribune)
All Barack and Hillary have to do is hold a news conference in Chicago’s federal building on Monday and make a political promise by repeating the following: “If elected president, I (Hillary/ Barack) promise to retain Patrick Fitzgerald as the federal prosecutor here and give him more FBI and IRS help, and more wiretaps, to fight political corruption in Illinois.” With [Obama fundraiser Tony] Rezko on trial, and other Illinois Democrats under investigation, Obama must be unequivocal about Fitzgerald’s future in an Obama administration. Clinton can prove she, unlike her husband, would not hold the federal prosecutor’s job out to the Daleys as some oily peace offering. Fitzgerald can place laurel wreaths on their heads, in symbolic approval of this newly civil union. And how would we know they’re telling the truth? When the Daley boys faint and drop their flower baskets, the petals flying like confetti among the tears — then you’d know, the Chicago Way.

Hannity: Like a Dog With a Bone (by SusanUnPC at No Quarter)
Sean Hannity has been pounding the connection of Barack Obama to William Ayers, every day, five or more times per show, six days a week, since February (at least)… You can expect Sean Hannity to keep asking many of his guests about William Ayers and Barack Obama. He’s got his teeth into the matter, and he won’t let go. Soon enough, if not already, regular watchers of Fox News will associate Barack Obama with a violent terrorist group whose leader got away with terrible crimes. How will Obama’s campaign unring that bell?

Congressman Rips Obama — But AP Leaves Out a Lot
The Associated Press reports today that an Iowa Republican congressman said Friday that terrorists would be “dancing in the streets” if Democratic candidate Barack Obama were to win the presidency. But it was worse than that.

Sure, Obama’s a smart, sweet guy — but can he fight? (by Margaret Talev and Steven Thomma, McClatchy Newspapers)
WASHINGTON — Can Barack Obama take a punch? Can he throw one? Will he fight back when sweet reason doesn’t work? Can he plunge into a smack-down without endangering the image he’s crafted as the avatar of a kinder, gentler politics that unites rather than divides? Obama’s quest for the Democratic presidential nomination may depend in part on how he answers those questions as he responds to Hillary Clinton’s revitalized campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. Clinton thinks combat politics is “fun,” and often boasts of her ability to “fight the Republican attack machine.” Obama also faces rougher treatment from Republican John McCain and a political press corps that feels burned by the Obama campaign’s misleading denials of a recent meeting with Canadian officials.

Obama Statement on Bush Torture Bill Veto (posted at The Page, Time Magazine)
“We need a Commander in Chief who has never wavered on whether or not it is acceptable for America to torture, because it is never acceptable. While I have consistently opposed torture, in the course of this primary campaign Hillary Clinton has flip-flopped from her past position of tolerating torture. I believe that we must reject torture without equivocation because it does not make us safe, it results in unreliable intelligence, it puts our troops at risk, and it contradicts core American values. When I am President, the American people and the world will be able to trust that I will outlaw torture, because unlike Senator Clinton I have never made an exception for torture and I never will.”
The problem is that Clinton hasn’t made an exception for torture.  Where’s the outrage, Obama fans?  You get furious when someone tells you Clinton has lied about Obama, even if it’s not true.

They must go for Hillary Clinton (by Anatole Kaletsky, London Times)
After Tuesday’s Ohio and Texas primaries, Barack Obama remains the firm favourite to win the Democratic nomination. But Hillary Clinton now seems more likely than Mr Obama to become the next president of the United States. In stating this paradox, I am not imagining some outlandish scenario, such as Mrs Clinton flouncing off and winning the presidency as an independent. All I am saying is that Mr Obama is much more likely than Mrs Clinton to be defeated by John McCain.
Kaletsky gives three reasons why Clinton is likely to prevail:  Women are more than half of the electorate and are voting for her, she’s better on the issues for what Americans want, and she is the better Democratic candidate to face John McCain.

Hillary Clinton sets her sights on three ways to win (London Times)
Clinton aims to win the popular vote, secure reruns in Florida and Michigan and undermine Obama’s credibility as the candidate to beat McCain

My message to former Senator Bill Bradley regarding comments he made in the above article:

“‘She’s [Clinton] going to lose a whole generation of people who got involved in politics believing it could be something different.’”

Your comment that CLINTON will drive away a whole new generation from the Democratic Party is ludicrous.  The young people will be driven away no matter what happens, because they were lured in with false promises.  If Obama wins the primary, he’s very likely to lose to John McCain.  But if by some chance he does get elected, he won’t do much.  He never has.

He talks a good game, but he hasn’t accomplished much.  He’s always too busy running for his next job.  Which will be what, if he becomes president?

“Bradley believes that Clinton will stop at nothing to tear down Obama even if it boosts John McCain… ‘They’re total tacticians and right now their focus is on Obama, not McCain.’”

OF COURSE Clinton’s focus is on Obama.  It’s still the primary.  Don’t you remember what that’s like?  But if anyone destroys Obama’s chances against McCain, it will be Obama himself, with his thin record of accomplishments, his waffling on important issues, his unwillingness to stand up for principle, his shady associations, and especially his complete lack of any kind of exposure to foreign policy issues.

George Bush needs to keep himself out of prison.  That is less likely with a Democrat as president, and he will use every organ and function of government to make sure McCain wins in November.  We need a fighter like Clinton to counter that coming onslaught.

Otherwise, we lose the Supreme Court for at least a generation.

Bushies for McCain. (Think Progress)
The Politico reports that several of President Bush’s former advisers are now “informally advising” Sen. John McCain (R-AZ): “Ken Mehlman, who ran Bush’s 2004 campaign, is now serving as an unpaid, outside adviser to the Arizona Republican. Karl Rove, the president’s top political hand since his Texas days, recently gave money to McCain and soon after had a private conversation with the senator. A top McCain adviser said both Mehlman and Rove are now informally advising the campaign.” McCain has also lined up several of Bush’s top fundraisers in recent weeks.
We need the toughest fighter we have to counter McCain.  He has the entire workings of government and almost the entire corporate media (see below) on his side.

The media’s hero (by Jamison Foser at Media Matters)
In the past week, The New York Times has described John McCain as “a Vietnam hero and national security pro.” The Associated Press has referred to McCain’s “Vietnam War-hero biography” [etc., etc.]… If this is going to be how the media cover this campaign — invoking McCain’s status as a war hero every time anyone dares criticizes him, or even hints at criticism of him, or even might have hinted at criticism of him — they may as well just start wearing “McCain For President” buttons on their lapels and drop the charade that they are anything but in the tank for him.

Content Of Their Characters (by digby)
CNN reports: “…Ballot initiatives have been proposed in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma that would give voters the chance to decide whether they want to do away with affirmative action in government-funded projects and public schools…” Hmmm. Why do you suppose they chose those states? I’m sure this has nothing to do with the fact they are big swing states with large minority populations aren’t you? I wrote earlier about how the Republicans are going take advantage of the zeitgeist to position Maverick McCain as the real post-partisan. (The Democrats you see, are playing the same old tired identity politics of the past, while the rich, white, war hero Republican has risen above all that to reach across the aisle many times — often angering his own party — to put his country before petty partisan concerns.) By urging equality for all people instead of just the favored minorities, the conservatives are ones who are truly transformational… By putting such issues on the ballot, they are giving people of good character a way to move past all these phony racial and partisan divisions and transform our politics. Yes they can.

Ex-Defense Official Assails Colleagues Over Run-Up to War (Washington Post)
In the first insider account of Pentagon decision-making on Iraq, one of the key architects of the war blasts former secretary of state Colin Powell, the CIA, retired Gen. Tommy R. Franks and former Iraq occupation chief L. Paul Bremer for mishandling the run-up to the invasion and the subsequent occupation of the country. Douglas J. Feith, in a massive score-settling work, portrays an intelligence community and a State Department that repeatedly undermined plans he developed as undersecretary of defense for policy and conspired to undercut President Bush’s policies… [T]he book does not address some of the basic facts of the war, such as the widespread skepticism inside the top of the U.S. military about invading Iraq, with some generals arguing that doing so would distract attention from the war against global terrorists.
Wikipedia documents that Bob Woodward, in Plan of Attack, quotes Tommy Franks as calling Feith “the stupidest fucking guy on the planet.”

Turning the Page: ‘The Man Who Pushed America to War’ (Muckraked!)
[T]he full story of one key player [in the Iraq War], Ahmad Chalabi, has yet to be told. The legendary conman and disgraced war cheerleader gets his due in Aram Roston’s “The Man Who Pushed America to War: The Extraordinary Life, Adventures and Obsessions of Ahmad Chalabi.” Among the revelations:  - One of his key backers has been John McCain, who was one of the first patrons of Chalabi’s grand-sounding International Committee for a Free Iraq when it was founded in 1991.  [Emphasis added.]

Bozell Ignores Iraq War, Falsely Claims Clinton ‘Devastated’ The ‘Military Infrastructure’ (Think Progress)
In the Washington Post today, Brent Bozell, the president of the conservative Media Research Center, argues that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) “may have the Beltway crowd in his corner, but grass-roots conservatives aren’t sold.” Claiming that McCain “is the one who arguably least qualifies as a Reagan conservative,” Bozell suggests ways that the Arizona senator can motivate the conservative movement. But in making his argument, Bozell falsely claims that it was the Clinton administration, not the Bush administration, that created the current strains on the “military infrastructure“:

Tucker Canceled; Other Programming Changes Ahead
Insiders tell TVNewser Tucker Carlson’s 6pmET show Tucker is getting the axe, but Carlson stays on as a political contributor to all MSNBC shows at least through the 2008 election. The official announcement, expected tomorrow, will include details about who will replace Tucker at 6pmET as well as other political programming additions. Sources say the network is going to beef up its schedule with more NBC News talent.

Face Slap or Punch to the Head? (by Dean Baker)
Paul Krugman has the basic story of the financial meltdown right, but he would still like to see the Fed come to the rescue, even if it means handing over hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to the world’s richest people.  I have a hard time following the logic… We have too many custodians and waitresses who can’t afford health care or child care for their kids, or to take a sick day from work, to rain hundreds of billions on the Wall Street crew who have yachts, vacation homes, nannies for their kids and teams of personal servants. These people and the institutions they run must be forced to pay the price for their own stupidity and the damage they have done to the economy.

Media Matters for America headlines

• Assessing “conventional wisdom,” NY Times’ Leibovich ignored Times reporting on McCain’s immigration reversal

• Wash. Post stated that McCain “condemned” TN GOP attack on Obama but didn’t note that he later touted TN GOP chairman’s endorsement

• NY Times’ Herbert misrepresented Clinton’s comments about Obama’s religion, asserted they were “one of the sleaziest moments of the campaign”

Nieman Foundation announces creation of new award for journalistic independence
NEW YORK The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University announced the creation of a new award, the I.F. Stone Medal honoring journalistic independence. The Medal will be presented annually to a journalist whose work embodies the independence and integrity of I.F. Stone Weekly, which ran from 1953-1971. The award is named in honor I.F. Stone, a journalist who fought for press independence and dissent as an important facet of democracy.

Journalism in the Hands of the Neighborhood
The Knight Foundation in Miami is donating $25 million over five years “for innovative ideas using digital experiments to transform community news.”

Literary Frauds Strike Again … and Again (by John Dolan, AlterNet)
A Valley Girl masquerades as an L.A. gangster and a Catholic woman says she’s a Jew raised by wolves. Why do people keep falling for such frauds?

Reporter’s lawyers seek to delay fines
WASHINGTON — Attorneys for a former USA TODAY reporter plan to ask a federal appeals court today to suspend the payment of thousands of dollars in fines imposed for failing to identify sources who named former Army scientist Steven Hatfill as a possible suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks.The emergency request to the U.S. Court of Appeals comes after a federal judge late Friday night ordered Toni Locy to begin paying fines of up to $5,000 per day out of her own pocket so long as she refuses to identify her sources.

MediaNews papers avoid layoffs as 107 staffers take buyouts
The staff reductions are at the Contra Costa Times, Oakland Tribune, and other papers are operated by Bay Area News Group-East Bay, a MediaNews division.

Cartoonist: Newspapers have changed our job description
“Before, the rule was to editorialize and provoke,” says editorial cartoonist Milt Priggee. “Now it’s to address and entertain. Don’t take a position, don’t editorialize, don’t create any grief.” The Houston Chronicle’s Nick Anderson adds: “What you see printed in national editions is definitely watered down and safe. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of good, pointed commentary going on.”

Pfizer sues NEJM to stop confidential peer review (by Chris in Paris at AMERICAblog)
Pfizer is now suing the New England Journal of Medicine to reveal their confidential reviewers. Pfizer wants to break the long respected confidential peer review process that has helped raise questions when others were afraid to speak out. The US courts are due to rule on this case later in the week and despite the obvious blow to confidential peer review, this also once again shows that it’s not just consumers who are launching lawsuits, driving up costs.
Corporations control the media.  They control the government and the courts.  Now they want to control the scientific process.  That’s not good, friends.

Atlantic Assures Fans It Hasn’t Sold Its Soul
Britney Cover Is Relevant to Venerable Title’s New Aims — a Hoped-for Return to Profitability

Giving the Outsiders a Say on Movies
The idea behind a new Web site, Massify.com, is to give film enthusiasts a vote on which films are made in the first place.

Reruns Go From Déjà Vu to New
Networks Keep Viewer Attention by Adding Extra Features to Rerun Episodes

Fox Web site rocks as “Idol” returns
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) – The midseason return of “American Idol” helped double Fox Broadcasting’s online traffic in January compared with December.

MobiTV Seeks to Shut Down Web Forum 
NEW YORK (AP) – MobiTV Inc., which provides TV services on Sprint Nextel Corp. cell phones, is trying to shut down a Web forum that is carrying instructions on how to get access to its channels for free.

Kentucky Lawmaker Wants to Make Anonymous Internet Posting Illegal
Kentucky Representative Tim Couch filed a bill this week to make anonymous posting online illegal. The bill would require anyone who contributes to a website to register their real name, address and e-mail address with that site.  Their full name would be used anytime a comment is posted.

Girls In US And UK Command Remarkable Web Usage Numbers (by Paul Glazowski at Mashable)
Found in Sunday’s edition of The Times of London …documents a trend of increasing Web adoption among girls and young women in both the US and UK. This finding does not only pertain to blogging. It includes most all common and habitual tasks: shopping, social networking, referencing educational material, etc. This transition to a Web populated with an increasingly active female usership is undoubtedly directly related to the advent of intuitive, easy-to-use software.
In the comments, Glazowski points out that he’s not saying girls CAN’T master more complex technology, just that they don’t seem to be as interested in doing so as boys.

To Aim Ads, Web Is Keeping Closer Eye on What You Click
A new analysis of online consumer data shows that large Web companies are learning more about people than ever from what they search for and do on the Internet.

Google Growth In Europe Outpacing The US (by Sean P. Aune at Mashable)
Henry Blodget of Silicon Valley Insider earlier today ran a report showing that Google’s advertising returns for the US market are slowing, while Google in Europe is continuing to surge.

Cable Firms Join Forces to Attract Focused Ads
In an effort to slow Google’s siphoning of advertising dollars away from television, the nation’s six largest cable companies are making plans for a jointly owned company that would allow national advertisers to buy customized ads and interactive ads across the companies’ systems.