Permanent link to MTA daily media news

Media Tenor: Race Heats Up As Candidates Go On Offensive
• Candidates increase criticisms of each other
• McCain pulls ahead in polls and predictions
• Experience gap continues to weigh on Obama

Are You Good Enough For Barack Obama? (by Uppity Woman at No Quarter)
I have some very bad news, readers. I am a dismal failure. Alas, I just took the Obama test: Are You Good Enough For Barack Obama?. As as you can see, I did very poorly… Sigh………..here’s my score.

Honestly, I don’t know where I went wrong! I mean I said I wasn’t bitter! Ok Ok, maybe it was all those Honesty questions. Or maybe it’s because I don’t speak a lot of different languages like he doesn’t does. I mean, I even gave him he benefit of the doubt a few times just like his blind followers do all the time. That means I lied. But all I know is I failed miserably. I make a terrible Obama sycophant! I feel so left inadequate now.

What, me worry? Why polls aren’t worrying Obama’s team (by Carol Marin, Chicago Sun-Times)
Finally, for John McCain, a week to smile about. “Obama fatigue,” a virus that’s afflicted the GOP presidential candidate for sometime now, was discovered in a new Pew survey to have spread to 48 percent of the populace. And recent national polls now place McCain and Barack Obama in a statistical dead heat. Gallup’s numbers have Obama 46, McCain 43. RealClearPolitics’ national average is about the same, Obama 46.9 to McCain 43.3. What does it mean? Next to nothing. And Obama’s team not only knows it, it thrives on it.
Uh, sure.  They don’t care.  More likely, they don’t want anyone to THINK they’re worried.

Why isn’t Obama crushing McCain? (by Thomas Schaller, Salon)
A conversation with two prominent journalists and a Bush-Cheney campaign official about why, in what should be a Democratic year, Obama can’t put McCain away

That Was the Obama We’re Still Waiting For (by Michael Tomasky, writing at the Washington Post)
As the Democratic convention approaches, it’s a safe bet that the cable networks will transport us back in time to late July 2004 by showing clips of Barack Obama’s electrifying keynote address to that year’s gathering. That was the speech that made him a star (and unlike John McCain’s ad team, I mean this as a compliment). But I’ve sometimes wondered in recent months: Whatever happened to that Obama, to that enemy of excessive partisanship and evangelist of national unity?
Tomasky goes on to say he wishes Obama would return to that theme because it’s a winner.  Needless to say, I disagree completely.  You cannot fight the right wing by being nice.  It’s one of the biggest reasons I chose Hillary as my candidate after Edwards dropped out.

Barack Obama Mimics George Bush on Russia’s Invasion? (by international security expert Larry Johnson at No Quarter)
Barack’s comparatively weak, mealy mouthed [initial] response to the violation of another country’s sovereignty does not give me a warm, fuzzy feeling. And the fact that he is lining up with the likes of the failed Presidency of George Bush is even more troubling. At least John McCain seems to understand that unprovoked aggression, left unchallenged, leads to more violence and more death.
Later, he beefed up his criticism, once he saw what McCain had said.  See below.  He used to crib Hillary’s notes.  In this situation, he cribbed off Bush and then McCain.  Remember that if Obama manages to attain the presidency, he won’t have anyone’s notes to crib.  What will he do then?

McCain, Obama step up criticism of Russia over Georgia
HONOLULU, Aug 9 (Reuters) – U.S. presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain stepped up their criticism of Russia’s military activity in Georgia on Saturday, calling for Moscow to withdraw its forces and the international community to facilitate peace talks… McCain, an outspoken critic of Moscow, said…, “I again call on the government of Russia to immediately and unconditionally withdraw its forces from the territory of Georgia.” Obama called for direct talks among all sides and said the United States, the U.N. Security Council and other parties should try to help bring about a peaceful resolution. “I condemn Russia’s aggressive actions and reiterate my call for an immediate ceasefire,” Obama said in a statement.

McCain prescient on Russia? (Politico)
When violence broke out in the Caucasus on Friday morning, John McCain quickly issued a statement that was far more strident toward the Russians than that of President Bush, Barack Obama and much of the West.  But, as Russian warplanes pounded Georgian targets far beyond South Ossetia this weekend, Bush, Obama and others have moved closer to McCain’s initial position… McCain aides feel encouraged that their candidate appeared to get it right first, and they are now working to remind reporters that he’s long been wary of Putin’s Russia.  

Obama’s VP choice imminent via website, e-mail, text message (Top of the Ticket, Los Angeles Times)
Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, is on vacation in Hawaii tonight. We believe. But, thanks to loyal Ticket reader Mark, just minutes ago we learned that the freshman senator’s presidential campaign has confirmed that announcement of Obama’s running mate choice is very near. An e-mail just sent out says Obama “is about to choose a running mate.” And when word comes, it will come by text message, e-mail and on the campaign website. An interesting twist that could mean the word might be released this week even during Obama’s family vacation.
The story is dated yesterday, 8/10, but no time stamp is given.

Hopeful Rumormongering for No Good Reason (by chicago dyke at Corrente)
Heh, I won’t tell you where I heard it, as it is out there on the Intertubes and you can find it yourself with a little effort. And I’m posting because one of my sort of in-the-know friends didn’t poopoo it when I ran it by him. What would you say to “Vice-President Feingold?” The rumor goes that all the other names you’re hearing are a distraction/diversion and that Obama really prefers Russ, but wants to vet him quietly. The Obama camp is filled with many different kinds of people, but not all of them are wholly addicted to “consultant-logic.” They know that many of you here, and elsewhere, are already very unhappy with him and may go as far as withdrawing your support althogether, as very publically, some already have. Feingold would be a significant olive branch to progressives, no? Also, the bitterness between the BHO and HRC camps seems to be proving real and lasting, and it’s always easiest, when choosing whom to screw over, to pick feminists.
But maybe not.  See below.  I can’t see Obama choosing anyone who has good things to say about John McCain.

Feingold remains a McCain admirer (by Craig Gilbert, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
Washington – If Republican John McCain needs someone to vouch for his independence, he could easily do worse than Senate colleague Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, a liberal Democrat from a key battleground state. “I think the guy calls ‘em as he sees ‘em, and as president would call ‘em as he sees ‘em, and would make people mad all over the place because it wouldn’t fit anybody’s playbook,” said Feingold, who teamed up with McCain to rewrite federal campaign laws. “He would be very original,” Feingold said. Those are not exactly Democratic talking points.

Real good talker Barack Obama loses mind on stage (Top of the Ticket, Los Angeles Times)
We’ve had some fun here at The Ticket in recent months over Barack Obama’s 57-state remark and his promise to meet with the president of Canada and his shouted greeting to one city when he was actually in another… The poor famous guy in this video [click through to watch] from an Indiana TV station may be a regular rock star in Germany and have just turned 47 last week. Which, admittedly, is getting up there in years. And he did not have his usual teleprompter. But it sure does sound like he’s not very happy with this America that he wants to be the president of, if he really doesn’t want his daughters to grow up in it.

McCain’s new ad…it’s a hoot!! (by FlaDemFem at Alegre’s Corner)
This is one of the funniest campaign ads I have seen yet. And so true too. Of course, all the Obots are having hissy fits about it, how disrespectful it is of McCain to run it, how Obama IS the One,..etc, etc.

Uh-Ohhhh… No Sense of Humor (by campskunk at Alegre’s Corner)
So what did the Obama supporters learn between the New Yorker cover and the McCain web ad mocking him as “The One”? NOTHING. Oy. Sample indignation… “Critiques of the ad started surfacing earlier this week when Eric Sapp, a Democratic operative, circulated the first of two memos pointing out images that he believed linked Sen. Obama to the antichrist.”… Wow. From the campaign, a better response… “The Obama campaign declined to comment.” Now, if they REALLY had a sense of humor, they’d be able to roll with the joke and laugh. We’ll leave that as a future goal. A short-term future goal… if Obama gets the nomination, the election is less than three months away. Going down in history with Kerry and Gore as just another loser Democratic candidate stiff with no sense of humor isn’t as funny as it was the last two times.

Mile High BS (by Alegre)
First the lies about the nominating petition and who’s behind it, and now this.  Howie I’m starting to notice a pattern here (tsk tsk)… I just got an email from a friend who’s a delegate.  She forwarded a delegate update from Howard Dean et al and folks – he’s telling yet another whopper about our convention.  Check it out… “Greetings from Denver,…. Since we announced Wednesday our plan for community credentials for Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at INVESCO Field at Mile High, the Colorado Campaign for Change has received more than 80,000 requests to take part in the historic final night of the Convention. Those are just snapshots of what we’ve been experiencing — all indicators of the tremendous enthusiasm for our Party.”

My friend’s comment on this… “This is not what we have been hearing.  They have been calling the Clinton Delegates asking if they need extra tickets for family and friends that night.  Which goes directly in conflict of this DNC Delegate release.” I’ve heard this from one or two other folks as well.  Now some people are telling Howie and Co yeah sure… send me some tickets.  They’re not planning to use them mind – they just want a souvenir.  Those tickets won’t get used. Could it be they’re worried they won’t be able to fill all those seats for BHO’s big speech?  Could it be that they’re bitten off more than they can chew?

Oh, Hillary… (by Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy at No Quarter)
It just pains me that you have to go out campaigning for Obama while he and his family dig around in Hawaii and try to find a birth certificate that dosn’t look forged – um – I mean, get some much deserved rest (I know – I could barely type that out without cracking up myself. It’s HARD to be the Messiah, you know?!?)?  After all the DNC and Obama have done to you, it just makes me ill… Wait a second. Now, just hold on – this is freakin’ BRILLIANT!!!!!! Yes, by all means, Obama, you just go away for a respite, and let HILLARY go around the country talking to the people – BEFORE THE CONVENTION HAS HAPPENED!!!  Abso-freakin’-lutely, you just run along, and let the GROWN UP do the talking.

NYT Op-Ed: Let Them Vote (by campskunk at Alegre’s Corner)
Looking for validity in the argument that suppressing a roll call vote is necessary for “unity”, Michelle Cottle can’t find much in her op-ed in the New York Times [Sunday] morning. It’s true that having America watch as some portion of Mrs. Clinton’s 1,640 pledged delegates thumb their noses at Barack Obama would disrupt the party’s vision of a carefully scripted Denver love-in. But finding a constructive way for Mrs. Clinton’s seriously aggrieved loyalists to channel their anger and disappointment could wind up being the path of less destruction for Mr. Obama’s campaign. Plus, it’s the right thing to do.

Of course, it’s unlikely that Obama will follow Ms Cottle’s advice; he’s already decided that anyone who doesn’t yet support him is irredeemable, one of “those people”, and he’s given up even talking to them. In doing so, he’s made a lot of enemies, and cost himself votes. But, if that’s the way he wants it…

What Are They So Afraid Of? (by Alegre)
I recently talked with a couple of delegates and they were telling me some pretty hair raising stuff regarding the things the DNC and BHO’s crowd are doing to try to bring them into line.  Lies, threats, out and out thuggery… Newsflash! Lying and intimidation is no way to win over the hearts and minds of delegates. Then again neither is stealing 59 delegates from Michigan, but that’s for another diary… [S]eriously – are they that worried that if Hillary’s on the ballot, we may in fact have convinced enough delegates and superdelegates that the best thing for our nation right now is to go with the one Democrat who will wrest control of the White House from the republicans, and get down to the vitally important work of heading off the economic meltdown that’s building now – even as we type?… They really are starting to sense a groundswell of support for Hillary…

Donna Brazile likes to talk about the things her momma taught her.  Well here’s a bit of wisdom from my mom… “Girl if he’s less than sweet to you when he’s courting you, don’t expect it to get any better once you’re married.” Delegates – if he’s pushing you around with intimidation, lies and – in some cases threats now, don’t expect it to get any better if he (by some miracle) manages to beat McCain in November and becomes our next President. Seriously – we’ve endured that kind of garbage from Bush and Cheney for 8 years.  Please don’t saddle us with another administration that rules with a heavy fist while they arrange deck chairs on the Titanic.

Open Thread: PUMA Conference (by Alegre)
Great conference.  I met River Daughter and some of her team, along with Darragh Murphy, Sherri Tag, caught up with Will Bower and met some other folks who are soooooo dedicated to making sure Hillary’s name gets on to the roll call ballot, and are determined to retake our party.  I spent a lot of time talking with Michele Thomas at today’s conference.  Michele’s  working 24/7 with delegates and some other volunteers to bring aboard enough delegates to get that nominating petition ready for Hillary to sign off on. Guys that video from SimoFish got the attention of a lot of delegates – I’ve got a gut feeling they’re going to get the 300 delegates and then some but we have GOT to keep hammering away at this – laser focus on Denver. Between now and the 27th I have but one goal – to get Hillary on the ballot and convince the Supers and the other delegates to back the one candidate who WILL beat John McCain in the GE.  Nothing else matters between now and the convention IMHO.

Denver or Bust! (by garychapelhill at The Confluence)

Under the bus training session at the conference.

[T]here is going to be a PUMA headquarters in Denver just 2 miles from the Convention Center that will be open to the public and serve as kind of a home base to all PUMAs going to Denver.  It will be open from Augusat 24-28 from 8am-12am.  They will have resources like water, chapstick, flyers, and will serve also as an area to make banners and signs… They will have a PUMA store where you can get your t-shirts and other gear as well.  Keep pumapac bookmarked, because details will be listed there shortly. On the 25th they will have a meet and greet for all PUMAs arriving in Denver.   There will also be a casual get together at the Confluence Park that day.  On the 26th we all plan to wear white to remember the suffragettes and commemorate the August 26, 1920 ratification of the 19th ammendment.  Later that evening there will be another meet and greet at the headquarters for us all to get to know each other and relax.

On the 27th they are going to have an ambassador day for PUMAs to reach out to the citizens of Denver and explain what we are there for.  We want to tell people what a wonderful champion Hillary Clinton would be for all of Americans.   On the 28th (nomination/coronation day) we all plan on wearing bright orange shirts that say “you bet your ass I’m going to Denver”.  The point is to stick out and really show what kind of presence we have there.  Finally on the last day will be the “Lion’s Share”, for all of us to get together, share our experience, and energize for whatever the task may be after Denver.  Most of us still believe that will include fighting for Hillary in the general to ensure that we hear Chief Justice John Roberts address her as Madame President on January 20th, 2009. 

THE BOSTON TEA PARTY STRIKES AGAIN (The Denver Group)

Click through for access to a larger version.

It’s clear in recent comments by Senator Obama that he doesn’t want Senator Clinton’s name in nomination or an open convention. The Boston Tea Party ad which first ran in the Chicago Tribune appears [today] (August 11, 2008) in an updated new version in The Hill to remind everyone in the Democratic Party including their leadership, that this is not about what Senator Obama wants — it is about the Democratic Party, it’s own rules and procedures and what they can expect if they in any way violate them and deprive the majority of having their candidate placed in nomination with an equal chance to win.

The Democratic Platform (Draft) – A Selective Commentary (by FrenchDoc at Corrente)
Preamble[:] “A great nation now demands that its leaders abandon the politics of partisan division and find creative solutions to promote the common good. A people that prizes candor, accountability and fairness insists that a government for the people must level with them and champion the interests of all American families. A land of historic resourcefulness has lost its patience with elected officials who have failed to lead.” Uh oh, this does not start well. Partisan division is NOT the problem. Republican governance is. Creative solutions are good, but they include first sending the Republican leadership back to the hole they crawled out of.

“And so, Democrats –through the most open platform process in history –are reaching out today to Republicans and Independents who hunger for a new direction and a reason to hope.” I think I’m going to need a puke bucket AND a large supply of barf bags to make it through this.

Can It Happen Here? (by Paul Krugman)
The draft Democratic Party platform that was sent out last week puts health care reform front and center. “If one thing came through in the platform hearings,” says the document, “it was that Democrats are united around a commitment to provide every American access to affordable, comprehensive health care.” Can Democrats deliver on that commitment? … For one thing, we know that it’s economically feasible: every wealthy country except the United States already has some form of guaranteed health care. The … risk of losing your insurance, the risk that you won’t be able to afford necessary care, the chance that you’ll be financially ruined by medical costs … would be considered unthinkable in any other advanced nation. The politics of guaranteed care are also easy, at least in one sense: if the Democrats do manage to establish a system of universal coverage, the nation will love it… So why be nervous about the prospects for reform?
Because Democrats won’t go against their big contributors, Prof. Krugman.  Of course you know that, but you’re too polite to say so.

Who would you rather believe, the [Beltway] Village or the American people? (by vastleft at Corrente)
msnbc.com/Reuters headline: “Most Americans want overhaul of health system — More than 80 percent surveyed said major changes needed”

New Draft Democratic Platform Omits Mention of Gays and Lesbians (by Jake Tapper at Political Punch, ABC News)
The 2004 Democratic Party platform, page 42: “We support full inclusion of gay and lesbian families in the life of our nation…” The 2008 draft Democratic Party platform, page 50: “We support the full inclusion of all families in the life of our nation…” Notice the editor’s red pen? “Gay and lesbian families” has now been replace by “all families.” The love that once dare not speak its name is not having its name spoken by the Democratic party platform! At least as of now.

Lawsuit exposes rift between gays and blacks at the DNC (Austin-American Statesman, thanks to lambert at Corrente)
[A]n increasingly nasty lawsuit against the DNC, brought by Donald Hitchcock after he was fired as the party’s gay and lesbian outreach director, has exposed the rift between gays and one of the party’s most important constituencies, African Americans… In [a] video, [DNC Chairman Howard] Dean describes how he has tried to be a peacemaker between gays and lesbians and prominent African American leaders, led by onetime Gore campaign manager Donna Brazile, who had objected to goals and timetables for gay and lesbian delegates to the party’s national convention… [I]n a letter sent this week to the DNC’s lawyer, John Hardin Young, Hitchcock’s attorney, Tara Jensen, claims Young assaulted her following a mediation session in the Superior court for the District of Columbia. In the letter, Jensen claims Young spit on her face and told she should “know her place.”

How Obama Treats Labor (by SusanUnPC at No Quarter)
This is from LaborPains.org, a pro-labor, pro-union blog. The title tells the story: “Stood Up and Hung Up” Then blogger J. Justin Wilson reveals the depressing details: “I just got off the AFL-CIO’s kick-off conference call with Obama. What a tragedy of errors. First of all, Sen. Obama was about 40 minutes late to the show. You can image how fantastic 40 minutes of Muzak went over. Finally, John Sweeney introduced Obama. Next … After rattling off nearly the exact same speech he delivered a few months ago to the AFL-CIO (see above), Obama proceeded to hang up. Click. Just like that.”… Go to “Stood Up and Hung Up” to view a video and to listen to the actual phone call… It is such an annoyance to have to talk to those “typical” little people.

Inquiry in Ohio Could Hurt Obama Vote (New York Times)
CLEVELAND — A federal investigation of Democratic Party leaders in Cuyahoga County could pose problems for Barack Obama’s campaign in Ohio, party insiders and political analysts say. If the party’s local campaign operation suffers, some Democrats said, it could cost Mr. Obama votes in a Democratic area where he must win overwhelmingly to offset Republican strength elsewhere in the state. “There’s no question that this is not helpful,” said Peter Lawson Jones, a Democrat who serves on the three-member Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners with Jimmy Dimora, the chairman of the county Democratic Party, who is at the center of a federal inquiry.

Part I: New Mexico “Progressive” Voter Registration Groups in Trouble: ACORN Again…Surprised?? (by GRL at InsightAnalytical)
ACORN is now conducting background checks on new hires here in NM since nine of their voting registgration team were found to have criminal records.  A television station unearthed the information, which has been reported by the AP… ACORN has a history of suspicious voter registration activity/fraud and in-your-face actions. The group is also embroiled in a corruption/cover up scandal involving embezzlement of funds from ACORN by the brother of the founder.
Barack Obama has long been associated with ACORN.

The first stop on the re-education express (by John: south of Melrose at Liberal Rapture)
A bunch of Obama [supporters] named Accountable America is about to start a real s**tstorm. This group sent out a warning letter that, in essence, says that donors to the GOP will be dragged through the mud. The warning letter is intended as a first step, alerting donors who might be considering giving to right-wing groups to a variety of potential dangers, including legal trouble, public exposure and watchdog groups digging through their lives. Nice. Give to the NRA – get a subpoena! Trashing right wing donors on a personal level is another sign that the “liberals” now in control of the once great Democratic Party are contemptuous of the individual. Put it in the “caucus packing” and bittergate category. The fundamental thesis being “We know better than you. Behave, or you will pay!”
Somehow, I don’t think the right wingers are going to stand still for this.  If anything, these bozos are going to INCREASE their contributions to these kinds of groups.

From the “mysteriously” leaked Clinton emails: Clinton told to portray Obama as foreign (Politico)
Mark Penn, the top campaign strategist for Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign, advised her to portray Barack Obama as having a “limited” connection “to basic American values and culture,” according to a forthcoming article in The Atlantic. The magazine reports Penn suggested getting much rougher with Obama in a memo on March 30, after her crucial wins in Texas and Ohio: “Does anyone believe that it is possible to win the nomination without, over these next two months, raising all these issues on him? … Won’t a single tape of [the Reverend Jeremiah] Wright going off on America with Obama sitting there be a game ender?”
But she DIDN’T portray him as foreign, did she, at least not as far as sane people are concerned?  The Kool-Aid heads, however, are convinced that Hillary sent subliminal messages about Obama’s foreignness.  They know, of course, because they can READ HER MIND.  They’ve ALWAYS been able to read her mind.  They know her better than she knows herself, and they know that she is EEEEE-VIL.

How John Edwards Helped Destroy Hillary (by Larry Johnson at No Quarter)
If the story were known last December of John Edwards’ “egocentric and narcissistic” sexual “liaison,” as he calls it, with a woman he says he wasn’t in love, at a time when he says his wife was in remission from cancer (strangest rationalization for an affair ever recorded in human history), there can be little doubt that today the strongest, best qualified candidate, Hillary Clinton, would be the Democratic nominee. Instead Edwards stayed in the race, harboring his secret life, knowing that it was likely to be exposed and that if he were somehow to emerge from the primary pack he would be humiliated and obliterated, just as he is now. In the meantime, knowing full well that he was damaged goods, Edwards engaged in a ferocious negative campaign against Hillary–not Obama. In effect, he was acting as Obama’s running mate. And Obama benefited enormously from having Edwards do some dirty work against Hillary.
Click through to read many sample headlines of Edwards’ attacks on Hillary.

Endorsement From Winfrey Quantified: A Million Votes
Two economists contend that Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement of Barack Obama last year gave him a boost of about one million votes in the primaries and caucuses.

Who created Obama? (by John: south of Melrose at Liberal Rapture)
In all elections there is the drama we see and the drama unfolding out of view. Because information is so available now it is easier to catch glimpses of the POWER that prefers to remain unseen. But not many. This is why Obama is such a mystery. His ascendancy is so swift and he has such a small amount of discernible ballast we can and should ask: Who created Obama?

Some speculative answers:
1. He did. He focused, brought on the right team, was willing to do what ever it took.
2. The power elite in the Democratic party. There is plenty of evidence for this. Brazille has been obvious in her duplicitous bias. Ditto for Dean. And how many Super Delegates are willfully ignoring their own constituents?…
3. Power players outside the visible Democratic Party elite put Obama in play. Soros comes to mind, as does the Chicago machine. The list of his big money backers is impressive. In this scenario he also got a big assist from the GOP who let him slide, for the most part, until Wright made it impossible. But by March the game was nearly decided anyway… Obama is talented and pliable. It would be nice to write about his core convictions – but he does not have any. This makes him the perfect made man. I’ve never seen a politician double back on major issues with the audacity of Obama…

My guess is that #1,#2, and #3 are all true. What I do not know is if those behind door number 3 have enough arrows in the quiver to win – (to put the metaphors in a blender…..) My gut tells me a turf war afoot. My gut is not special – elections are always turf wars. But I don’t mean “conservative/liberal” Democratic/Republican” turf wars. Neo-Cons versus Neo-Brzezinski is an awkward but better way to define this turf war.
It started with Obama creating himself, but he managed to get in with the Illinois Combine, which consists of two Democratic machines and what’s left of the Republican machine.  Investigator Evie Pringle has documented a lot of this stuff.  Go read. The Combine had originally intended current Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich to be their ticket to the national big time, says a friend of mine who would know.  But Blago got so much mud splattered on him that they decided to go with Obama, instead. If Obama manages to get in the White House, it will be a matter of the Texas Mafia moving out and the Illinois Combine moving in.

Did Media Analysis Predict Obama-Fatigue?
MediaChannel discusses “Obama-Fatigue” with media analyst Roland Schatz, President of Media Tenor International.

Obama heckler was on assignment for Bloomberg News (Poynter)
Freelance photographer John Quinn was shooting for Bloomberg News when he heckled Barack Obama at Baldwin-Wallace College this week. “There are no more assignments scheduled [for him],” says a Bloomberg spokeswoman.

“I’m a human first, a black man second and a journalist last” (Poynter)
“Black journalists are being taken to task by white journalists who suggest that to remain journalistically chaste they must not show one shred of pride or enthusiasm in light of Barack Obama’s history-making presidential bid,” writes Jeff Winbush. But what about the white journalists who rush to have their pictures taken with the president every Christmas? “What about the fabled media crush on Maverick McCain, from the mostly white male Washington press corps?”

McCain rep apologizes for ordering black reporter out of press area (Poynter)
“We feel terrible about it,” a spokesman for John McCain told Tallahassee Democrat reporter Stephen Price on Tuesday. The newsman was told to leave an area restricted to national reporters while other Florida reporters remained. Price was the only black reporter there. Democrat executive editor Bob Gabordi says: “Our issue remains with the Secret Service agent [who intervened]. His actions are still a problem.”

Nader Disses Obama, Press
By Paul Bedard, U.S. News & World Report
Nader takes on Sen.Barack Obama and race, and slams the White House press corps for being timid and cynical.

Mythbuster: Abdul-Ahad: Baghdad is “Calmer” Because they Made it into Prison Cells (by Juan Cole)
The Guardian’s Ghaith Abdul-Ahad went back to Baghdad to see the effects of last year’s troop escalation (“surge”). He argues that the US military’s blast walls and forcible division of the city into isolated micro-neighborhoods are the cause of the reduction in deaths, not extra troops.
Click through to watch the video and read the transcript.

American Conservative: It was Feith’s office, not CIA, that forged the Habbush letter. (Think Progress)
Ron Suskind’s new book alleges that the White House ordered the CIA to forge a letter from the head of Iraqi intelligence to Saddam Hussein linking the dictator to the 9/11 terrorists. The American Conservative’s Philip Giraldi argues today that “an extremely reliable and well placed source in the intelligence community” told him Suskind’s overall claim “is correct,” but that it was Douglas Feith’s Office of Special Plans — not the CIA — that forged the letter.

Tape: Top CIA official confesses order to forge Iraq-9/11 letter came on White House stationery (by John Byrne at Raw Story)
In damning transcript, ex-CIA official says Cheney likely ordered letter linking Hussein to 9/11 attacks

A Case Study In FBI Investigations (by TChris at TalkLeft)
These are the costs of being labeled a suspect, or, almost as bad, a person of interest by the FBI: “When Perry Mikesell, a microbiologist in Ohio, came under suspicion as the anthrax attacker, he began drinking heavily, family members say, and soon died. After a doctor in New York drew the interest of the F.B.I., his marriage fell apart and his practice suffered, his lawyer says. And after two Pakistani brothers in Pennsylvania were briefly under scrutiny, they eventually had to leave the country to find work.” Not to mention Steven Hatfill. Maybe Bruce Ivins had something to do with the mailing of anthrax, although the lack of evidence that he was in Princeton when the letters were mailed is a glaring hole in the FBI’s theory.
Click here for Glenn Greenwald’s questions about whether Ivins could have mailed the letters.

Ross Responds To ‘Vital Questions’ About Anthrax Report (TVNewser, Media Bistro)
TVNewser spoke with ABC’s Brian Ross, the lead reporter on the anthrax stories in late 2001. He explains in detail, what happened then and what it means now.

Be Careful What You Wish For: Is the U.S. Heading — And Ready — For a Long War in Afghanistan? (by Greg Mitchell, Editor & Publisher)
Few voices in the mainstream media — and even in the liberal blogosphere — have tackled this subject, partly because of long arguing for shifting troops to this “good war” from the “bad war” in Iraq.

The Post’s Whining for Wall Street Billionaires (by Dean Baker)
The Post ran a lengthy piece in the Sunday Outlook section about the plight of the Wall Street investment banks and the millionaires and billionaires who run them. According to the article, without the sleaze practices of the last decade, they just can’t make any money. It’s touching to see that some of the richest people in the country might be worried about their future and the future of their industry, but why would a serious newspaper devote space to such nonsense. Is there a public interest in ensuring that incompetent investment bankers can still make millions, tens of millions or even hundreds of millions a year pushing deals that harm the economy?

Polls Show Voters Want the Tooth Fairy to Use Larger Bills (by Dean Baker)
I haven’t seen the data, but let’s suppose that were true. Would the Washington Post simply report the results of the poll without raising questions about the tooth fairy’s existence? That is how the Washington Post reported the results of a new ABC News poll on public attitudes towards drilling restrictions. The article notes that the overwhelming majority of voters now supports the removal of drilling restrictions. It never points out that the removal of restrictions will have no impact whatsoever on the price of gas for close to a decade, and even when the full effect of new production is felt in 15 or 20 years the impact will only be a 3-4 cents a gallon.

The Post Lets Rental Victims of Foreclosure Appear on Front Page (by Dean Baker)
A large portion of the people who have been displaced by foreclosures following the collapse of housing prices have been renters. This fact has largely been ignored by the media, presumably because it has also been largely ignored by politicians. Of course an independent press is supposed to report on what is important regardless of whether it fits the agenda of politicians at the time. Today, the Washington Post had a front page article noting the large number of tenants who have been displaced by foreclosures.

Billions of dollars wasted: Election officials return to paper
Thousands of touchscreen devices are collecting dust across the country as officials shift to scanners that read paper ballots.

Media Matters for America headlines

• Fox’s Wallace did not challenge McCain campaign’s assertion that “[y]ou’ll never find John McCain changing his stripes just because of an election”

• Cokie Roberts on Obama’s vacation: “I know his grandmother lives in Hawaii and I know Hawaii is a state,” but it looks “foreign, exotic”

• MSNBC’s Gregory failed to challenge suggestion that McCain’s heroism during Vietnam War should bar criticism of him now

• David Gregory on Edwards: “Is this another skeleton in the Democratic closet that Barack Obama must struggle to overcome?”

• Fox & Friends aired McCain’s ad of Dems praising him, not DNC response with criticism from many of same Dems

• Ignoring numerous speeches and statements, Hannity claims to “never hear” Obama discuss “how great this country is”

• Gibson’s guest host Krok called Obama a “steamy hot pile of crap wedged between two pieces of bread”

• On CNN, radio talk show host Lars Larson suggested Sen. Clinton is like Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction

• Limbaugh: “Nature cleaned up itself” after Exxon Valdez oil spill

• NY Times staff editor ignored own paper’s reporting in posting claim that sales of Living History didn’t cover Clinton’s advance

• LA Times uncritically quoted McCain falsely claiming that Obama will “raise your taxes”

• Gingrich in denial that Reagan, too, used “very dangerous” description of himself as a “citizen … of the world”

• Hannity distorted Bill Clinton’s comments about readiness for presidency

Olympics-China Media Watch: What Protesters?
As the Olympics begin, official Chinese-language news makes no mention of the last couple of days’ protests within Beijing.
Wow, just like here.

Some Web sites remain blocked at Beijing Olympics 
BEIJING (AP) – Some Web sites remained inaccessible to reporters as competition got under way Saturday at the Beijing Olympics. China’s communist government routinely filters its citizens’ access to the Internet, but in the runup to the Olympics Chinese officials and officials with the International Olympic Committee vowed there would be no censorship of the Internet for accredited journalists covering the games. Some sites were unblocked 10 days ago after reporters arriving to cover the games found them blocked and complained to the IOC, but others remain inaccessible, including sites related to the Tiananmen Square protests, Tibet, Taiwan and the Dalai Lama.

Mia Farrow to air alternative ‘Darfur Olympics’
KHARTOUM, Sudan – As the Summer Games open in Beijing, actress activist Mia Farrow is Web-casting her own “Darfur Olympics” from a refugee camp on the barren Sudan-Chad border, aiming to shame China into using its influence with Khartoum to end the Darfur conflict.

Ethiopia: Court Case To Test Limits Of Press Freedom
A legal battle in Ethiopia over what constitutes contempt of court is likely to test the boundaries of free speech in a country where the liberty of press has deteriorated over the last three years.

Pakistani Media Calls For Musharraf To Go Quietly
Pakistani newspapers implored President Pervez Musharraf to resign, rather than drag the country through more political upheaval, a day after the leaders of the civilian coalition declared plans to impeach him.

Thailand tags 10 games violent after murder
Thai health officials have listed 10 popular video games as dangerously violent following the reported confession of a teenager who claimed his murder of a taxi driver was inspired by playing “Grand Theft Auto.”

Court Tosses Defamation Action Lodged Against Air America Host (American Constitution Society)
A federal appeals court rejected a defamation claim lodged against the Air America Radio host Randi Rhodes for condemnations she leveled at interrogators involved in the notorious abuses of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib. The private defense contractor CACI Premier Technology, Inc. and CACI International, Inc. (CACI) brought a libel lawsuit against Rhodes and Air America Radio in 2004 after Rhodes sharply criticized the CACI interrogators for their involvement in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.

Wireless services add more parental controls
For parents considering getting their child a cell phone, more carriers are offering the tools for mom and dad to keep a tighter rein on their children’s cell phone use, from limiting the amount of texting, to setting the hours of when the phone can be used.

The biggest plagiarism scandal in the annals of US journalism?
Jody Rosen recently learned that his Jimmy Buffett profile was published in the Montgomery County (Texas) Bulletin under the byline of “Mark Williams.” He investigated and discovered that stories lifted from Salon, the Boston Globe, Washington Post, Rolling Stone, and other publications also appeared under Williams’ byline. Rosen asks: “Do the articles in the Montgomery County Bulletin amount to the greatest plagiarism scandal in the annals of American journalism? Perhaps the Bulletin is merely on-trend — or even ahead of its time. The Drudge Report, the Huffington Post, and Real Clear Politics have made names and money by sifting through RSS feeds …[The Bulletin] may simply be bringing guerilla-style 21st-century content aggregation to 20th-century print media: publishing the Napster of newspapers.”

Exclusive! First Pics of Adorable Montauk Monster Quintuplets! (by Simon Dumenco at Advertising Age)
Ad Age Announces It Will Lay Off Editorial Staff to Pay $23 Million Cost of Photos — but It’s Totally Worth It!

Why TV news in the US is utter rubbish (by Kieren McCarthy, The Guardian, U.K.)
It’s not just that world events are ignored in favour of celebrity gossip. News anchors skew the facts to provoke debate
My favorite line: “The Jerry Springer school of journalism”

Do Young Journos Have a Future? And Will It Be Dumb?
The second offering in our new New ‘New Journalism’ feature: Managing one’s own expectations about career development is tricky right now, but the news industry’s challenges are never so acute as when you have to explain them to hopeful, idealistic student journalists.

All of Us, the Arbiters of News
In the age of Twitter and YouTube, crowds are driving the media agendas.

The myth of the creative class (by Jeff Jarvis)
[W]e are shifting … from a culture of scarcity to one of abundance. That is the essence of the Google worldview: managing abundance. So let’s assume that instead of a scarcity there is an abundance of talent and a limitless will to create but it has been tamped down by an educational system that insists on sameness; starved by a mass economic system that rewarded only a few giants; and discouraged by a critical system that anointed a closed, small creative class. Now talent of many descriptions and levels can express itself and grow. We want to create and we want to be generous with our creations. And we will get the attention we deserve.
Well not always, Jeff.  Some really trivial stuff gets a lot of attention, and some stuff that deserves attention gets little or none.  Because we not only have to be the creators of content, we have to be its marketers, too, if we’re not getting the attention we THINK we deserve.

“Community newspapers are doing quite nicely, thank you”
Tuskegee News publisher Paul Davis says that’s because “they have not forgotten their mission, their responsibility to their readers, the service they must provide to their advertisers, their duty to report the good and the bad; to expose corrupt public servants who betray the public trust and seek to serve themselves first at the expense of the taxpayers.”

Why small-town papers haven’t been hit as hard as big dailies
Justin Fox points out that small-town papers benefit from the reality that:
* their communities are too small for Craigslist to have gotten to;
* their populations are less transient and less Internet-addicted; and
* the real-estate bust (and real-estate ad bust) has been mostly a metro-area phenomenon.

Alt-weeklies report on newspaper woes in Orlando, Durham
* Orlando Weekly says: “The Sentinel is probably still very profitable. Were it not part of a national chain it would likely be doing just fine, thank you very much.”
* Independent Weekly says: “Staff cuts at The Herald-Sun last week are further evidence of what any reader can see: Paxton Media Group is running Durham’s hometown daily newspaper into the ground.”

Buffalo mayor orders police to give crime info to news media
Basic crime information, including the location of many incidents, was recently removed from the police computer to which the media have access. Buffalo’s mayor on Thursday ordered police to give the press more descriptive reports. “The mayor is doing the right thing here,” says Buffalo News editor Margaret M. Sullivan.
The police blotter of the Times-Picayune used to be the most entertaining section of the paper, back when I lived in New Orleans.  I guess it was the precursor to the TV show, Cops.  Only funny.

Judge declares mistrial after paper reports man’s conviction
A Kansas judge declared a mistrial in a rape case after the Salina Journal reported that the defendant was sentenced to prison this week in another county for fondling a teenaged girl. Journal editor Tom Bell says: “The frustration to me is that some in the system are trying to blame us for doing our job. And equally as frustrating is what it means for the victim and her family to have to go back on the stand, especially in rape trials it must be terribly difficult.”

Baltimore Sun adds conservative radio host to op-ed page
WBAL-AM talker Ron Smith will write a weekly column for the Sun. “If you talk about big surprises in Baltimore media, this would be one of them,” says Smith, who has been a vocal critic of the Sun and its editorial policies. “After years of sometimes being at odds with the paper … it’s an astonishing thing.” He adds: “If what [Sun editor] Tim Franklin is asking for is a conservative voice, that’s what he’s going to get.”

NYT begins posting excerpts of its weekly newsroom critique
The goal of After Deadline “is not to chastise, but to point out recurring problems and suggest solutions,” says the Times. The critique is written by deputy news editor Philip Corbett.

Holy Cash Cow, Batman! Content Is Back
As Jeff Bewkes whittles away at the Time Warner empire, it’s become clear that the company will have unraveled the two great megamergers that created its current shape.

Time Inc. Buys Subscription Source From Reader’s Digest
QSP Used by Schools, Community Groups as Fundraiser

Is Google a Media Company?
Knol, Google’s new site where experts share knowledge on a variety of topics, has rekindled fears among some media companies that Google is edging in on their turf.

Hearst buys Connecticut Post, seven weeklies from MediaNews
“This transaction allows MediaNews to manage its balance sheet during a challenging economic environment and transfer ownership of the Connecticut Post to a company we admire,” says MediaNews president Joseph Lodovic. The weeklies that Hearst acquired are the Darien News-Review, Greenwich Citizen, Fairfield Citizen-News, New Canaan News-Review, New Milford Spectrum, Norwalk Citizen-News and Westport News.

“Less down is the new up” with magazine single-copy sales
That replaces “flat is the new up.” Irin Carmon writes: “The long-standing expectation that a healthy magazine is one that sees successive growth on the newsstand is in question. …Whether the change is cyclical (uncertain economic times that include high gas prices, fewer supermarket trips and less disposable income) or secular (consumer behavior is undergoing a fundamental change away from newsstand, or from print magazines themselves) depends on whom you ask. Editors and publishers would have it be the former.”

An Old Rocker Gets Digital
Peter Gabriel, the rock musician, has become a powerful player in the emerging online music industry by helping artists find new ways to market their music on the Web.

Online Music Sales Muddle Royalties, Lawyers Say
The current system for getting royalty payments to musicians in the United States is seriously hampering the introduction of new, innovative music distribution models, and that problem is not going to get any better in the era of the digital download, leading music experts said Thursday.

A Political Awakening
John Cusack and Mark Leyner talk with Anne Shoup of Reel Progress about the transformative power of film.

Nationwide ‘Thunder’ Boycott in the Works
A coalition of disabilities groups is expected to call for a national boycott of the coming film “Tropic Thunder” because of what they see as the movie’s open ridicule of the intellectually disabled.

What Did America Watch This Summer?
Highest-rated shows from May 19-Aug. 6
1. Hell’s Kitchen (Fox)
2. Wipeout (ABC)
3. America’s Got Talent (NBC)
4. So You Think You Can Dance — Wed. (Fox)
5. So You Think You Can Dance — Thurs. (Fox)
6. Two and Half Men (CBS)
7. House (Fox)
8. Rules of Engagement (CBS)
9. The Bachelorette (ABC)
10. Moment of Truth (Fox)

Show Skewers Martha Stewart, With Her Blessing
Can Martha Stewart take a pie in the face — even one she baked? Fine Living Network, about to unveil a new comedy series — “Whatever, Martha!” — is about to find out.

Libraries step into the age of iPod
NEW YORK (Reuters) – It may be about time to dig out that old library card. Hoping to draw back readers, libraries have vastly expanded their lists of digital books, music, and movies that can be downloaded by their patrons to a computer or MP3 player — and it doesn’t cost a cent, unlike, say, media from Apple Inc’s iTunes or Amazon.com Inc .

Media Outlets Losing Money From a Lack of Auto Ads
The flight of advertising dollars to the Internet is one explanation for the pain felt by traditional media. Another culprit that is increasingly to blame is Detroit.

Hottest Deal of the (Election) Season: TV Ads
Spots at Some Stations Sell for up to 20% off Amid Marketer Cutbacks

It’s Not the Ad; It’s Getting the Bill
A majority of people say they are averse to having advertisements sent to their cellphones. But nearly a quarter of people say they have responded to such ads.

Ad Skipping? Just Wait. It’s Going to Get Worse
Court Paves the Way for DVR Home Invasion — and Potential Ad Evasion

Big 3 TV Nets Follow Consumers Out of the Living Room
ABC, NBC and CBS Set Up Screens at Grocery Stores, Gas Stations, Malls