Permanent link to MTA daily media news

For as long as necessary, I will preface each Media & Politics post with the following information:

I AM NOT A REPUBLICAN.  I have never BEEN a Republican.  I never INTEND to be a Republican.  I do not WANT to be a Republican.

I AM NOT A RACIST.  I wasn’t a racist when I voted for Barack Obama in the 2004 primary for U.S. Senate.  I wasn’t a racist when I voted for him in the 2004 general election.  I wasn’t a racist when I became tremendously disappointed in his refusal to stand up for progressive issues, except for the few times when we constituents forced him to. I will not be a racist WHEN I VOTE FOR CYNTHIA MCKINNEY FOR PRESIDENT.

So don’t threaten me with your post-partisan, post-racial, manipulative, coercive HATE MAIL.

Things That Are Awesome (by Maya at Suburban Guerrilla)
The Daily Show’s pre-RNC billboard in MN:

CNN Breaking News (via email)
President Bush, Vice President Cheney to skip Republican convention because of Hurricane Gustav, White House says.
GOOD MOVE, White House.  Very smart move.  Now the convention doesn’t have to deal with the two of you.

Actually? I’m glad I don’t have to explain this (by katiebird at The Confluence)
Because some things are just beyond reason. The title of this video is Foul Don Fowler Amused by New Orleans Hurricane. [Click through to watch it.] And Michael Moore thinks it’s funny too.

Daily Presidential Tracking Poll Sunday, August 31, 2008
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday—the day before the Republican National Convention is scheduled to begin—shows Barack Obama ahead of John McCain by three percentage points both with and without leaners. That’s exactly the same edge Obama enjoyed a week ago on the eve of the Democratic National Convention.

McCain’s choice of running mate is hardly known (Washington Post)
JUNEAU, Alaska — In two short years, Sarah Palin moved from small-town mayor with a taste for mooseburgers to the governor’s office and now – making history – to John McCain’s side as the first female running mate on a Republican presidential ticket… She brings a strong anti-abortion stance to the ticket and opposes gay marriage – constitutionally banned in Alaska before her time – but exercised a veto that essentially granted benefits to gay state employees and their partners. “She stands up for what’s right, and she doesn’t let anyone tell her to sit down.” McCain said in introducing her to an Ohio rally. “She’s exactly who I need.”

Maverick Mom (by digby)
I wouldn’t be too smug about Palin. She’s got something about her that the people who know her really like. She has an 85% approval rating up there [in Alaska], which includes quite a few liberals. Her western state appeal is an amalgam of right wing populism and libertarianism, something that shouldn’t be discounted among swing voters who might also find her to be an attractive working mom who manages to run the state while taking care of her snowmobile champion husband (Arctic NASCAR) and their five kids. (A politically incorrect friend of mine in Alaska called the ticket “The Maverick and the MILF” and it may work better than we think.) I don’t think that many Hillary followers will vote for an anti-choice zealot, but there is no point in unnecessarily suppressing the female Obama vote by thoughtlessly pushing buttons that don’t need to be pushed.
THEY’RE NOT LISTENING, Digby.  Hands over their ears, singing “la la la la la la” at the tops of their lungs.  Showing their hate at every opportunity.

Conservative calls Palin a home run (Hot off the Trail, McClatchy)
John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin is a hit with conservatives if the reaction veteran conservative guru Richard Viguerie is any indication. “McCain has chosen to balance his ticket with a principled conservative.  Governor Palin’s life story is one of sticking to principle.  She is living proof that a person can take on the corrupt political establishment – including corrupt leaders in her own party – and achieve great things,” Viguerie said. “There’s an old expression in politics: Go along to get along.  Not this time.  The selection of Sarah Palin is one big kick-in-the-pants to the corrupt establishment in both parties.”

Smart Tactical Pick? (by pollster David Johnson, posting at Political Wire)
Sarah Palin may be one of the smartest tactical moves made by the McCain Campaign and the Democrats should be very careful in their line of attack against her.  Depending on how she is defined at the Republican Convention she could be a game changer. Barack Obama is underperforming among female voters in the key states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wisconsin in our polling… The Obama line of attack against Palin may further alienate voters in these states.  By attacking her as being a Mayor of a small town of 9,000, the Democrats open themselves up to charges of elitism and revive the “bitter” comments that Obama made in his race against Hillary Clinton… Finally, by attacking Palin as being inexperienced the Obama Campaign may actually help bolster McCain’s own arguments of inexperience against Obama.
And in fact, Fred Thompson got some heavy licks in this very morning on CNN.

Putting Clinton, PUMAs and Palin in Their Place–The Pundits Don’t Skip a Beat (by InsightAnalytical)
I watched Morton Kondracke, Juan Williams, David Gergen, and then heard Michael Savage all shrieking about Sarah Palin’s inexperience. And then they launched into the “one heartbeat away from the Presidency” fear card as if they’re hoping John McCain might croak any minute. Morton Kondracke’s condescension simply dripped all over the place…it was really so obvious. He was literally squirming with discomfort and had to resort to being snide. Do I sense Palin is threatening their masculinity?  What asses!!!
But any criticism of Palin, in regard to her inexperience, is also a criticism of Obama, only much more gigantically bigger.  Because he wouldn’t be a heartbeat away from the presidency, he’d be THE PRESIDENT.  This had to be a Karl Rove pick.  There’s just so much nuance in it, and I don’t think of John McCain as a very nuanced guy.

Lance Mannion has an astute analysis of the choice, though he’s worried about never having received the carrier pigeon announcing it.  Ed Kilgore also sees the danger for Democrats in mocking Palin. John: south of Melrose observes, “The sexist bile of the the DNC, Obama, and the pods is REALLY in the docket now. What idiots Dean, Brazille and the DNC are.”  Anglachel: “This is a dangerous political choice for Democrats, in great part because of moronic responses by PB 1.0 [the so-called progressive blogosphere that delighted in vicious hatemongering against Hillary Clinton] that belittle and underestimate her.”  Speaking of the inexperience issue, Big Tent Democrat opines, “Tim Kaine, who has exactly the same experience as Palin, was treated by the Media and the Dems as a serious and acceptable potential pick, it opens up charges of a double standard. ”  Easton McNeal reports that in a message asking for money, a female Democratic member of Congress said that Palin is, “no Hillary Clinton. She’s Dan Quayle in a dress.”  And madamab at The Confluence points out what the two choices for vice president tell us about the candidates picking them.

For pure dumbheaded inability to see the advantages in the selection of Palin, and failure to understand Rovian headfakery, read Steve Soto at Crooks and Liars.  Jeralyn falls into the inexperience trap, and so does Rahm Emanuel.  Joe Conason brings up the dreaded T word: “McCain’s Palin pick is the epitome of tokenism”.  Earth to Joe: TALKING ABOUT TOKENISM REMINDS US OF TOKENISM IN THE APPOINTMENT OF OBAMA AS THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE.  Honestly, smart people can be so dumb sometimes.

Obama/Biden Palin Comparison (by garychapelhill at The Confluence)
McCain … has just told the biggest voting block in the nation that while they may have disagreements on issues, even issues that are extremely important to a lot of women, he acknowledges their importance to the governance of this nation, and lets everyone know that he believes a woman is capable of governing the most powerful nation on Earth.   And in my opinion that’s a big deal.  Why?  Because for all of their boasting about being progressive on women’s issues, the Democratic Party has shown through their actions that they don’t buy what they themselves are selling.
And Palin hasn’t been friends with even one unrepentant home-grown terrorist.

As GOP’s Palin campaigns, Obama ad calls her a distraction (McClatchy)
WASHINGTON, Pa. — Republican John McCain showed off his vice presidential running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, in this key battleground state Saturday as Democratic rival Barack Obama’s campaign aired a new TV ad urging voters not be distracted by McCain putting a woman on the GOP ticket.
Yep, unimportant.  A distraction.  Why don’t you brush her off your shoulder, Barack, the way you did Hillary.  Or flip her the bird.  It was so classy when you did that.

This must stop, Obama said, describing the past twenty years (by Bob Somerby at the Daily Howler)
[Thursday] night, Obama threw down the gauntlet. Before the fall campaign began, he offered the public a framework for viewing the campaign’s contents. Some distractions concerning Obama have involved issues that smack of patriotism; [Thursday] night, he said “the times are too serious” to allow such distractions to prosper… And he said it has to stop. It doesn’t have to stop, of course, just because we’ve been handed this framework. But now that Obama himself has said this, fiery fellows at your “liberal journals” may decide to repeat what he said. You see, these are the types of fiery players who wait until it’s safe before speaking. They like repeating what others have said–preferably, somebody famous.
And how have those fellows at the “liberal journals” responded?  Why, to attack the Republican soon-to-be nominee for vice president, of course, in much the same way they trashed Hillary Clinton.

Alter channels Burton, and Kos becomes freeperland 2.0 (by garychapelhill at The Confluence)

[T]he truly nasty rhetoric [is from] the cheetah [Daily Kos] boys.  Take this diary from Kos…: “Palin’s faked ‘pregnancy’?  Covering for teen daughter?…” Not only is this kind of slander below even the most disgusting low-life freeper [frequenter of the right-wing FreeRepublic.com], it only gets worse in the comments sections. “I think the bigger story here is why Sara was doing Fetal Genetic Testing at 4 months. Was she considering an abortion potentially?” So if you don’t agree with her politics its ok to speculate about the most obscene things and demand to know if she considered an abortion?
Remember when Hillary’s eight years at the power center of the world wasn’t considered experience?  When she was just President Clinton’s wife?  When she only won her senate seat because people were sorry for her in the way Bill Clinton treated her?  When she was “likeable enough”?  When we could nominate “a woman, but not THIS woman”?  When Obama could give Hillary the finger and be applauded?  When he could play at a rally “99 problems but a bitch ain’t one”?  This kind of crap is from your self-proclaimed liberals, America.  These are the people who tell us we MUST vote for Barack Obama because he will be the savior of our reproductive rights.  As if the Democratic-controlled Congress has no choice in the matter.

THE PAST WEEK… (InsightAnalytical)
I haven’t gone to the ORANGE site [Daily Kos] in months, but was compelled to see for myself the post questioning whether Sarah Palin as the mother of her Down’s Syndrome baby or whether it belongs to one of her teen-age daughters. Classy.  No matter that someone has provided a picture of Palin while pregnant (scroll down).  The original post still sits there.

They just can’t help themselves, can they? (by lambert at Corrente)
Here’s the very first comment from The Obama 527 Formerly Known As Daily Kos on McCain picking Sarah Palin for VP: “The Old Man and the She”… It’s a two-fer! Sexist and ageist! Well done. Here’s the sixth comment: “You think McCain maybe misunderstood… that just because she’s his ‘running mate’ doesn’t mean he gets to mate with her?”…  Lest I be accused of cherry-picking comments, Kos is a community site; the comment ratings are there exactly to reinforce Kos community norms. The screen dump for the first comment shows a rating of 16+; the uprate count is now 95+. The sixth comment is now uprated at 24+. Sexism is a community norm at Kos. QED.

Sarah Palin: Bring on that Moulitsas-brand misogyny! (by Joseph Cannon at Cannonfire)
From a tactical point of view, Governor Sarah Palin was the best choice available to John McCain. Her negatives — the relative inexperience, the brother-in-law thing — won’t matter to swing voters… She’ll thrill the fundamentalists, and even those who disagree with her views on abortion must admire her devotion to principle. She does not support same-sex marriage but implemented same-sex benefits in Alaska — which means that her position essentially mirrors that of John Kerry. (Added note: Her position also matches the current stance of Barack Obama. Which, to be fair, he may change again tomorrow.)

Her personal story is certainly more impressive Obama’s. She achieved a powerful office while raising five children, including one with Down’s syndrome. By contrast, Obama was told: “Here’s a pot of money; take 18 months to write a book.” And even then, he dawdled… All that is necessary is for Cheeto-head [Daily Kos] “progressives” to continue alienating Clinton supporters by indulging in loud misogyny. And lo! They are doing just that. “what creepy eyes that woman has!” “Straight Outta’ Stepford, baby.” “What a witch.” “pouty lips..She probably had her lips Lipoed !”

Saturday Night Free For All (PUMAPac)
I learned today that one of the anti-puma hate sites has posted personal and attacking references to Diane Mantovalous and me and others. They have also tried to dig into the pasts and personal lives of other Pumas. They have also attacked my mother. Listen up Pumas, if you are in any way public as a Puma be prepared to have any and every embarrassing, disparaging, and damaging fact from your life publicized and ridiculed.
Click through to read some of the hate mail.

Full Disclosure (by riverdaughter at The Confluence)
[Regarding the above excerpt:] I have to say that I am not surprised.  Given the way the Obama campaign has run things this year, it’s just par for the course that they would set out to harm us in our personal lives.  But I am no worse nor better than any other American.  I am a law abiding citizen, try to stay out of trouble and keep to myself… In any case, attempting to destroy the lives of private citizens simply because they do not agree with you is pretty low.  Funny that it is coming from the Democrats this year since the Republicans have nothing to fear from us.  Unless there is a Rovian ratf%^*ing operation underway.

Scratching Post Saturday Night – Democracy is more important than my LadyParts (by sm77 at The Confluence)
I will support DownTicket Dems even if they were a participant in the Death Of Democracy in the Democratic Party - because they will ensure that McCain and Palin’s power do not go unchecked.  And numbers say that in 40 years and 5 Republican presidents with very conservative Supreme Court majorities haven’t turned over Roe v. Wade, so why should they now?  Obama stole a campaign and attacked with his rabid cyber-dogs and cultlike supporters in the media.  What makes you think he’s going to protect MY rights as a woman after he let misogyny be the main weapon to suppress dissent?  Democracy is much more important to me than my uterus, so go do your job instead of deciding what my ladyparts should be doing/thinking.

Anybody Want a Stuffed Unity Jackass? Anybody? (by LisaB at No Quarter)
The Democratic party has no values other than staying in power. Equal rights for women became unequal pay in the Obama campaign and an organized effort to get a strong female candidate to leave the race early. Support for the LGBT community morphed into Obama not having a picture taken with the mayor of San Francisco and the effort to remove a gay state legislator in Alabama. Ending the war turned into talking mean [and] funding it anyway… Holding the Bush administration to account turned into taking impeachment off the table and holding hearings, instead, on baseball. Post-racial politics became a 20+ year association with the likes of Rev. “God-damn-America” Wright and Father “There was a whole lot of white people crying” Pfleger…

Who are these people? What do they believe in? You know, I don’t care. They won’t tell me the truth anyway, and I don’t trust them. Any moral authority the party enjoyed as a result of its “core values” is long gone. This is not the Democratic party I used to know, and I’ve outgrown them.

Fair is Fair! (by myiq2xu at The Confluence)
[A]nyone who supported Barack Obama in whole or in part because of his race, cannot criticize anyone who supports Sarah Palin in whole or in part because of her gender.  Fair is fair… If the Democratic leadership had not been infected with CDS, they would have given Hillary the Presidential nomination that she both deserved and rightfully earned, and had he run a clean campaign they could have selected Barack Obama as her running mate. Had the Democratic leadership done so, both candidates would have blasted the glass ceiling to smithereens in November, and a more experienced Barack Obama would be perfectly positioned to follow Hillary into the Presidency eight years from now.  That would be sixteen straight years that the Oval Office was not occupied by a white man.

But the Democratic leadership was too full of hatred for the Clintons, and Barack Obama too arrogant and impatient to wait or to allow a woman to go first, so John McCain and the GOP have seized the golden opportunity presented to them.  Until [Friday] morning I thought John McCain would more likely than not defeat Barack Obama in November.  Barring any unseen developments, I am now certain of it.

I Approve the Entertainment Value of This Campaign (by Arthur Silber at The Power of Narrative)
Some strategist working for McCain (and McCain himself perhaps) is one devious and crafty bastard. By selecting Palin, all the ugliness of the Democratic primary is dredged up again — and this time it may both turn off some Democrats and redound to the Republicans’ benefit. It’s the devil again! So we can look forward to someone like Keith Olbermann telling us that Sarah Palin is just like that crazed woman played by Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction — but this time, after she got religion. It’ll be awful, but it’s entertainment!

Hillary’s Delegates in Denver – Gloria Allred (by Alegre)
Gloria Allred – feminist attorney and all around @ss-kicker … fought like hell to point out the unfair treatment of Hillary and her supporters, and called on the DNC to conduct a full and open roll call of the delegates for the record.  She also turned up to a California state delegation meeting with a gag in her mouth after they refused to let her speak to other Hillary delegates.
Please try to imagine what might have happened at the convention if Barack Obama’s delegates had been treated this way.

Basic Instinct (by Anglachel)
To take up my previous posts about how Republicans will focus on Affirmative Action, not race, in this election, choosing Palin allows the Republicans to present an argument that they are not racist or sexist, but that they oppose unjustified promotions above your pay grade… The general election is now in doubt for the Democrats because Obama has spent most of a year kicking the Clinton Democrats, the base of the party, to the curb. His refusal to even consider our candidate for the ticket shows he puts his emotional satisfaction ahead of the political needs of the party. The campaign’s first reaction to Palin was an attack on the person, exactly in the mode of their hateful attacks on Hillary – sexist, disdainful, mocking, and crude. This doesn’t speak to the Democratic base and it only riles up the Republicans to defend their candidate.

IF YOU’RE NOT FOR MCCAIN-PALIN…….YOU’RE SEXIST (Chicago Against Obama, a Republican site)
-If McCain-Palin poll numbers drop…….well…I’m going to blame it on sexism
-If anyone calls Sarah Palin inexperienced………we know they are sexist
-If Sarah’s middle name is mentioned…….sexist
-If someone asks about Sarah’s preacher…..or close associates……..you better believe they’re doing it because they hate women……

What Palin Said About Clinton (by Big Tent Democrat at TalkLeft)
There has been a lot of coverage in the Left blogs about comments made by Sarah Palin about Hillary Clinton. And let me be clear, the comments are bad. But I think it is important to state precisely what the comments were. Too often the Left screams about deceptive misquotations…, so I think it is important not to live in a glass house. So here is what Palin said, in pertinent part: “…[F]air or unfair and I do think it is a more concentrated criticism that Hillary gets on so many fronts, and I think that is unfortunate, she does herself a disservice to even mention it…” Palin accepts that Hillary Clinton suffered from sexist coverage (something the Left blogs have NOT accepted. See John Aravosis for instance) but that Hillary should have sucked it up. Pretty bad stuff. But she did not call Hillary a whiner or deny that Hillary faced sexism.

Her attitude was similar to that exhibited by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi: “‘Yes, there was sexism,’ Pelosi told a group of reporters… Pelosi also said that she has been a victim of sexism, ‘all the time. But I just think it goes with the territory.’” I found Pelosi’s statements to be bad too. I found the denials of sexism, and the ignoring of sexism to be incredibly bad on the Left, particularly in the blogs. Let me put it this way, most of the Left blogs are the wrong messengers for attacking Sarah Palin on this statement.
Click through to watch the Pelosi video.

Saturday: Truth and Consequences (by riverdaughter at The Confluence)
[Myth:] You’re all going to vote for McCain because he picked Palin and it’s all identity politics. Truth: Not necessarily.  Some of us will never be able to cross that ideological divide.  But Palin was the deciding factor for a good many people…  McCain did something that the DNC refused to do- honor women voters.  As Chicago Dyke said: “More than anything else, she is a clear warning: someone in the McCain campaing has a brain. Bigger than Rove’s, bigger than McCain’s. Fear that, if you long for Democratic victory this fall.”

More than anything else, we want to punish the DNC for turning its back on voters who went to the primary polls in good faith to vote for Hillary Clinton… Our delegates were harrassed and intimidated, our persons and characters insulted and derided, our candidate of choice, a brilliant, energetic, dedicated public servant, reduced to a figurehead of “your time has come and gone”.  We were told in no uncertain terms that OUR chance to lead the country had slipped through our fingers in favor of a bunch of amateurish, idealistic, young thugs.
Of course, as I’ve said, I think that Palin WAS Karl Rove’s pick.

I own my vote and you own yours (by katiebird at The Confluence)
This is the year I learned that a lot of people think they can control my vote. It seems the country will completely fall apart if I don’t promise – today, yesterday – to vote for Barack Obama!  And the whole world is at risk if I even flirt with the idea of voting for McCain. Now I’m always interested in talking about it but, these people (people?) have the strangest way of engaging in these conversations that I’ve ever experienced. I’ve never been insulted so often for a vote I don’t intend to cast. You see, as of today I don’t intend to vote for John McCain.  I happen to believe that Barack Obama is unelectable making it a complete waste of a bloody nose for me to vote for him. Although at the rate this campaign is evolving, I could change my mind about that….

The New Agenda (thanks to Dr. Violet Socks at The Reclusive Leftist)
“If women want any rights more than they’s got, why don’t they just take them, and not be talking about it.” – Sojourner Truth
Dear friends in the feminist and progressive community:
We’re writing to announce the launch of The New Agenda, a new non-partisan group formed to promote women’s rights… Please help us get the word out about our group.  If you have a blog, please consider posting a link to us with a word to your readers about our organization.  Even better, we’d love to be listed on your blogroll.
To join:  JoinTheNewAgenda@yahoo.com
Media inquiries:  newagendapress@yahoo.com

A Green Perspective on the Democrats (The Nation)
The Democrats aren’t the only ones making speeches in Denver. Green Party presidential nominee Cynthia McKinney, the former Democratic congresswoman from Georgia, was in town to address a large “Stop the War” rally. Here’s her take on what Democrats are calling a “transformational moment” in American politics:

Our country has been hijacked and the Democrats have proven themselves to have been in on the plan. When it came to the Constitution, the Democratic leadership showed us that aiding and abetting illegal spying on us was more important to them than protecting our civil liberties.

When it came to war and occupation, the Democratic leadership showed us that financing an illegal and immoral war, based on lies, was more important to them than the people’s desire for peace.

And when the people, hurting from the financial mismanagement of this country, called for accountability for the crimes that have been committed against the people here, against the global community, against nature, itself, the Democratic leadership took impeachment off the table!
McKinney is the nominee that The Nation should endorse.  And Progressive Democrats of America.  And Democracy for America.  And every labor union.  And every other group that claims to be liberal or progressive.

56% now want a third major party (McKinney 2008)
Many adults in the United States are voicing support for a new option in the country’s political scene, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. 56 per cent of respondents believe the U.S. should have a third major political party… Earlier this month, former Georgia congresswoman Cynthia McKinney became the Green Party’s presidential nominee, declaring, “We are in this to build a movement… A vote for the Green Party is a vote for the movement that will turn this country right-side-up again.”