Permanent link to MTA daily media news

Sorry to have disappeared for a few days.  I had some connectivity problems, but I also just needed to take some time off.  If you missed my posts and newsletters, a contribution would be a nice way to show it.

Now THAT’s bipartisanship:
New York Times (click through to see the map and the roll call list)

House members who voted ‘yes’ on bailout received 54 percent more from banks/securities firms. (Think Progress)
According to research produced by MAPLight.org, House members who voted yes on the proposed bailout package received 54 percent more money from banks and securities than members who voted no… Democrats who voted yes received “an average of $212,700 each, about twice as much as those voting No, $107,993.” Republicans who voted yes “received an average of $273,181 each, 50% more than those voting No, $181,688.”

Senate to vote on financial rescue plan
WASHINGTON – President Bush’s plan to rescue U.S. financial markets is headed for a Senate vote Wednesday night after leaders there agreed to add tax breaks for businesses and the middle class and increase deposit insurance in an attempt to revive the legislation rejected by the House… Adding a set of popular business tax breaks and legislation to prevent more than 20 million middle-class taxpayers from feeling the bite of the alternative minimum tax promised to win House GOP votes for the plan even as it angered moderate “Blue Dog” Democrats concerned about the tax cuts adding to the deficit.

We want a FAIR DEAL, not a Wall St. bailout! (Progressive Democrats of America petition—click through to sign)
For the good of all Americans, Congress must put our shared national economic interest first. A Wall Street bailout is beyond irresponsible, we need a fair deal for Main St. and the middle class. Congress should vote no on the bailout, if the following terms are not met:
• Reform Bankruptcy Laws
• Provide a Stimulus for Main Street -Aid to the Real Economy
• Make Wall Street Speculators Pay for the Bailout -No More Debt
• Shut down the Casino: Rein in the Unregulated Financial Sector
• Provide limits on CEO pay and Prohibitions on Profiteering from the Bailout

Why Paulson and Bernanke are only Partly Correct, and Why Main Street Needs More Direct Help (by Robert Reich)
Here’s Paulson’s and Bernanke’s logic, made explicit at the Senate hearing [Tuesday]: There’s only a certain amount of bad debt on Wall Street’s books, left over from the wild and woolly days of lax mortgage lending. Once removed from the Streets’ books, credit will flow again. And once credit flows again, even Main Street can breath a sigh of relief. P&B failed to mention that bad debts are growing even among people recently considered good credit risks. At end of August, 6.6 percent of mortgages were at least 30 days past due. That’s up from 5.8 percent at end of June. We’re also seeing a growing amount of credit card and auto payments past due.  The culprit isn’t just those sub-prime loans. With jobs and wages are dropping across America, many people who had been able to pay their bills no longer can…

Unless Americans on Main Street have more money in their pockets, Wall Street’s bad debts will continue to rise — which means the Bailout of All Bailouts grows even larger, which means taxpayers take on even more risk and cost.

Macro-Man (The red line is wages as a % of GDP.  The blue line is corporate profits as a % of GDP)

Click here to see a larger version.

Reid to Dems who voted against the giveaway: Fuck you, I’m going for Republican votes (by lambert at Corrente )
Well, it is the Bush + Reid + Pelosi + Frank + Obama + Paulson TARP* trillion dollar giveaway, so really, what did we expect? AP: “The bipartisan move caps a day of behind-the-scenes maneuvering on Capitol Hill over what sweeteners to add to the bill to attract votes from House Republicans.” Isn’t that special? Well, it worked for gutting the Constitution and the rule of law with FISA, so why wouldn’t it work for gutting the taxpayer?

Fury at $2.5bn bonus for Lehman’s New York staff (The Independent, U.K.)
Up to 10,000 staff at the New York office of the bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers will share a bonus pool set aside for them that is worth $2.5bn (£1.4bn), Barclays Bank, which is buying the business, confirmed… A spokesman for Barclays said the $2.5bn bonus pool in New York had been set aside before Lehman Brothers filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States a week ago. Barclays has agreed that the fund should continue to be ring-fenced now it has taken control of Lehman’s US business, a deal agreed by American bankruptcy courts over the weekend.

An Open Letter to the U.S. Congress Regarding the Current Financial Crisis (by
John P. Hussman, Ph.D., Hussman Funds, thanks to Lambert at Corrente)
These institutions are not failing because 95% of the assets have gone bad. They are failing because 5% of the assets have gone bad and they over-stretched their capital… Congress can benefit the American public by maintaining a focus on responsibly assisting homeowners in distress rather than defending the stockholders and bondholders of overleveraged financial companies. It is essential to recognize that the failure of these companies need not result in “financial meltdown” provided that the “good bank” representing the vast majority of assets and liabilities is cut away, protecting customers and counterparties, so that the losses are properly borne out of the capital base of the companies that incurred them.

LET’S BUST WALL STREET BANK ROBBERS (by Jim Hightower, thanks to Sarah at Corrente – Listen to this commentary)
On September 19, Ryan Mueller was sentenced in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, to six years in prison for stealing $20 from a toddler’s piggy bank. Think how much better things would have gone for him had his name been Freddie Mac, Bear Stearns, or any of the other monikers of the high-flying Wall Street investment banks. These institutional street thugs have robbed the piggy banks of millions of American homeowners. Yet, only two days after Ryan Mueller’s conviction, Treasury secretary Henry Paulson went running after the Wall Street Gang – not to arrest them, but to cover their wrongdoing with a $700-billion bailout.

Things To Come? (by Susie at Suburban Guerrilla)
In a land full of guns, I’m sure we’ll see some variation of this here: “Corporate India is in shock after a mob of workers bludgeoned to death the chief executive who sacked them from a factory in a suburb of Delhi.”

Bailout Lesson: Capital Crisis Will Wreck Both Parties (by Glen Ford at the Black Agenda Report)
The crisis of finance capital has thrown both big business parties into extreme disarray and split the Congressional Black Caucus right down the middle. “In the aftermath of Monday’s bloody siege, it was difficult to tell who Wall Street guns-for-hire John McCain and Barack Obama hated most: each other, or the citizens who despite their outraged confusion had the presence of mind to bar the doors to the national treasury.” As the Obama-McCain-Bush-Pelosi Axis struggles to serve a common master, “the rest of us must fashion new institutions to perform the societal tasks that were purportedly the domain of the now-extinct investment bankers.”
We can only hope and pray, Glen.

Sanders: Wealthiest Americans Should Pay For Bush’s Bailout (Think Progress)
The Bush administration’s $700 billion financial bailout is roughlywhat the United States has spent so far on the Iraq war and would raise the national debt ceiling to $11.3 trillion. Despite the enormous scale of the request, the Bush administration is demanding that Congress “place no restrictions on the administration other than requiring semiannual reports to Congress.” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is one of the few people questioning how the country will pay for this $700 billion package. In an interview with ThinkProgress today, Sanders said that he believes that the wealthiest Americans — who have reaped enormous benefits under the Bush administration — should foot the bill.
I HEART Bernie Sanders!

Wednesday: Bailout Bill in the Senate. Will the Democrats show up? (by riverdaughter at The Confluence)
Democrats, now is the time to start acting like Democrats.  Now is the time to do what the American public wants you to do.  And basically that is to put in a stop gap measure now and help the little guy get back on his feet.  We have had eight years, no, make that 28 years, of Republicans feeding at the public trough and we’re sick of it… [T]he American people have watched their wealth and their tax dollars get frittered away by Republicans.  Only Republicans and their friends seem to benefit from legislation in the past 28 years, with the exception of the Clinton years.  But despite the Clintons’ reputations for helping the little guy and Hillary’s embarrassing habit of actually acting like a Democrat, it is Obama, Pelosi and Reid who are in charge.  It should be clear from the past couple of days that the public does not want to fork over any more money without getting something in return.  And the only person who seems to be asking for anything in return is Hillary with her HOLC plan.

So, give it to her, guys.  Put aside the pride and the desire to squash her like a bug because we are out here watching.  If the Republicans walk away with the whole pie again, you congresscritters who let them do it deserve to lose.  And that goes doubly for Barack Obama.  And we will figure out a way of ridding ourselves of you when the bill for this mess falls heavily on us again. Stand up and act like Democrats.  Stand up for US, for a change.  Give us fireworks on the Senate floor. Do something rude and offensive to the Republicans and the Villagers. Cause a scene.
Yeah.  Ask the Democrats to stand up and fight.  Good luck with that, Riverdaughter.  And see below for the reason that Obama/Reid/Pelosi won’t give Hillary a starring role in anything.

Hillary Clinton 2012 Watch (No. 2 in a Series) — Bill Helps McCain on the Housing Crisis (Political Punch, ABC News)
A new TV ad from Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., approvingly uses a recent soundbite from former President Bill Clinton. “John McCain fought to rein in Fannie and Freddie.”
But Bill’s not the only Democrat who helped McCain.  See below.

New McCain Ad Uses Biden (Political Wire)
Sen. John McCain’s campaign unveils a brutally tough ad against Sen. Barack Obama featuring a clip of Sen. Joe Biden during the Democratic primary campaign. The tag line: “Barack Obama. Playing politics. Risking lives. Not ready to lead.” The ad is expected to run nationally.

But when did George Bush ever need Congress?
Fed Pumps Further $630 Billion Into Financial System (Bloomberg)
The Federal Reserve will pump an additional $630 billion into the global financial system, flooding banks with cash to alleviate the worst banking crisis since the Great Depression. The Fed increased its existing currency swaps with foreign central banks by $330 billion to $620 billion to make more dollars available worldwide… The Fed’s expansion of liquidity, the biggest since credit markets seized up last year, came hours before the U.S. House of Representatives rejected a $700 billion bailout for the financial industry. [Emphasis added.]

SEC Loosens Accounting Rule Banks Blame for Crisis (Washington Post)
The standard, also known as “mark to market,” has led portfolios to plunge in recent months as banks affixed fire sale prices to their assets, a move that sometimes required them to raise still more capital to meet regulatory requirements… In a meeting last week, lobbyists for the American Bankers Association and theFinancial Services Roundtable urged the Securities and Exchange Commission to suspend or relax the accounting provision. A similar advocacy effort continues on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are reconsidering efforts to aid the financial industry after the House yesterday failed to pass a recovery plan. That bill also would have forced a re-evaluation of the “mark to market” accounting rules.
Um, isn’t the loosening of accounting rules exactly what precipitated the savings and loan failures of the 80s?

‘Taking The Pain Will Bring The Gains’ (by Susie at Suburban Guerrilla)
“There are going to be casualties of this, it’s not pleasant, but the less the U.S. bails everybody out, the more bullish it is for the U.S. in the long run. Because it means the system isn’t completely corrupt. You can’t have socialism for rich people, capitalism for everyone else.” – Christopher Wood, publisher of weekly investment newsletter Greed & Fear.

Where’s the Leadership? (by Alegre)
This much we know… Either John McCain or Barack Obama will take over from Bush once he leaves office next January.  I know I know… not much of a choice is it?  They’re both asking for the right to take on a lot of responsibility next year, and I have to wonder what these two men are doing to help lead the way toward a workable solution to the meltdown taking place both on Wall Street and here on Main Street… People have been using the word “stunned” a lot lately.  I’ll tell ya what’s stunning… the total lack of leadership coming out of DC and our presidential candidates.  THAT’s what’s stunning.

The Village reacts badly (by lambert at Corrente)
The people hate this bill, and enough representatives listened to them to send it crashing down; that’s what drove the numbers! But don’t worry: Our Leaders will ram the bailout…. down our throats, whether we like it or not. As Leader Nance says: “What happened [Monday] cannot stand,” Pelosi said. “We must move forward, and I hope that the markets will take that message.” Funny, the “cannot stand” rhetoric is usually applied in cases where a perceived act of tyranny is to be resisted. Maybe that’s how the Village feels when the voters impose their will on them? Like they’re experiencing a coup d’etat?

The media’s role in Wall Street’s meltdown (County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Mike Barnicle and Mark Halperin on MSNBC this morning agreed that the unserious media fell down in terms of holding the powerful accountable. That it, “abdicated that responsibility” over the years.

Racism As Reflex at a Time of Crisis (by Tim Wise at the Black Agenda Report)
No matter the nature of the crisis, white supremacists will construct a logic that blames the “Other” – usually Blacks. Professional racists Neil Cavuto and Rush Limbaugh claim that poor people caused “the nation’s current financial mess,” rather than “greedy investors, free-wheeling bankers, speculators and other assorted rich people taking advantage of a largely deregulated market for bogus investments.” Turning the world on its head seems second nature for a huge section of “white conservatives who simply cannot bring themselves to blame rich white people for anything.”

White America Lives in Vicious Racial Denial – Obama Is Making It Worse (by Paul Street  at the Black Agenda Report)
Defending Barack Obama against blatantly racist attacks is made more complicated by – Obama, himself, who avers that, if he loses in November, it won’t because of his race. This, despite abundant and compelling evidence to the contrary. But then, Obama denies that race is an important factor in American life – again, against all the evidence. Worse, “Obama has bent over backwards to align himself with mainstream white hostility to blacks.” Rather than being a “transformative” influence on race relations, Obama hopelessly muddies the waters and gives comfort to the enemy: white supremacy.

Civil Rights=GLBT Rights…Where is the Human Rights Campaign? (by garychapelhill at The Confluence)
Barack Obama is a bigot.  He has just launched a “Faith, Family, Values Tour” which will feature Douglas Kmiec, a supporter of Proposition 8, a consitutional ban to California’s legal gay marriage… If this tour really were meant to promote “ALL values” where are the people of faith who support gay marriage?   who support a woman’s right to choose?  HRC, Mr. Obama….we’re waiting for answers…

BHO’s Faith Tour Off to Roaring Start (Not) (by Alegre)
There’s been a lot of talk about BHO’s latest and (not-so-) greatest effort in reaching out to those evangelical voters out there.  Well a friend just sent me the link to an article that’s reporting on the turnout for the first stop of this tour – check it out… “Obama Faith Tour Draws…15”

Health Care Reform? Under the bus. (and another pass of the tires over the gays too!) (by garychapelhill at The Confluence)

By the time we get to November, there’s not going to be anything left of Obama’s campaign promises.  Every single issue that is important to Democrats has been systematically tossed aside.  FISA, offshore drilling,  repealing the Bush tax cuts.  You name it, he’s tossed it under the bus.   He is even affecting important issues for Democrats without even doing anything, like the amendment to ban gay marriage in California… Now, the thing that was the holy grail of working class Democrats, Universal Health Care, or at the very least health care reform, has been thrown under the bus as well… “Obama … said if elected he might have to phase in some of his plans such as an overhaul of the U.S. health care system.” Oh well, we were willing to wait for ‘12 before, this only makes it that much easier to send Obama back to the sewers of Chicago.

Friday’s debate audience on TV was smallest ever (McClatchy)
The final Nielsen data is in, and Friday’s presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain didn’t bring in quite as many viewers as it appeared from preliminary results.

Bloomberg/LAT Poll: Debate Changed Few Minds (Political Wire)
A new Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll finds the presidential debate “changed the preferences of few voters, reinforcing previous perceptions about the candidates’ strengths and continuing to give Sen. Barack Obama an advantage over Sen. John McCain.” Among voters who watched Friday’s debate, Obama leads McCain, 49% to 44%. Key findings: “Obama scored much higher among these voters on the economy, as he did in a national poll last week, and McCain reaffirmed the perception that he is better on national security.”

The Gorilla strategy (by Joseph Cannon at Cannonfire)
Bob Somerby … is slamming Blogostan Left’s coverage of the first presidential debate. Somerby considered the debate a win for McCain, while the progs [so-called progressives] have been reciting propaganda points…

This situation precisely mirrors the tactics of the conservative media, as perfected a decade ago. Remember how it worked? After Clinton or Gore would give a speech or turn in a debate performance, the right-wing commentators would be mildly flummoxed for a few hours. And then — almost as if they got the same fax at the same time — the cons would repeat, in unison, The Line Of The Day. They’d repeat and repeat the same attack points — on TV, on the radio, in unabashed coordination. As memory of the actual event faded, the con version would take hold.
Obviously, the left can play – is playing – the same game.

This is how they did it to Gore all throughout 2000. This is what they did to Kerry. (The progs are still doing it to Kerry.) The Obots did it to Hillary throughout 2008. And now they are doing it to McCain. He’s a decent man with a political philosophy I do not share. But the progs can’t fight on that level. They feel compelled to transofrm him into an insane gorilla.

Debate (by Joseph Cannon at Cannonfire)
[D]uring much of the day [last Friday], I had an IV drip filling me with morphine. This was my first experience with having morphine shot directly into my veins and, frankly, I quite enjoyed it. Even though I spent that day swirling through the realms of Morphia, and even though I don’t recall anyone ever turning on a TV, I think I saw the McCain/Obama debate. I think. Here’s my take on it. First, I have to admit that Obama aced the swimsuit competition.
Click through for more opiate-induced recollections of Friday night’s debate.

Lunch Break- 700 point drop – that’s all, folks! (by J –SOM at Liberal Rapture)
That’s all, Folks! Many, many, things have ended this year…I believe one more event is over today: the election. I see no way the Democratic nominee loses… Tell me why I’m wrong. I’d sure like to know. Is there an “October” surprise that had an effect on an outcome? I can’t think of any. Is there a 527 (where are the 527’s????) ad run in October that has effected an outcome? I don’t know of any. They all run in the summer. Rezko is now talking to prosecutors. Will this matter in the next 5 weeks? Doubtful. Is there a “whitey tape?” Doubtful. I sat and waited for Clinton to take Obama out. It would have been easy enough. She never did.

Now we sit and wait for McCain to take Obama out. I could create the ad. You could create the ad. It is easy pick ‘ens with this guy. Yet, McCain only releases of series of glancing blows about “ready to lead” – (this line is already worn out. The line is: “DO YOU REALLY KNOW WHO THIS GUY IS?”) The whole thing is fishy. Obama is easy to take down it – yet no one is doing it. Why?
I don’t get it, either, John.  I really don’t get it.  They could cream this guy, and they’re not doing it.

Obama’s Very Own Cultural Revolution (by GRL at InsightAnalytical)
By now many of you have seen the eerie video of the children singing in homage to Barack Obama… “We’re gonna change it, and rearrange it…” Just how many times did they chant “Yes, we can…”? Although the line “We’re gonna change the world” reminded me of a Coke commercial, the first thought that actually flashed across my mind was about children singing for Chairman Mao.  I searched for audio, but couldn’t come up with anything…but I did find Maopost.com–Chinese Propaganda Posters with thumbnails of posters from years ago that illustrate exactly what I envisioned. This site is simply chock full of images that should inspire any Obamacrat, of any age!

Narcissistic Personality Disorder  (Psychology Today)
An individual with narcissistic personality disorder exhibits extreme self-importance…
Symptoms
Overreacts to criticism, becoming angry or humiliated
Uses others to reach goals
Exaggerates own importance
Entertains unrealistic fantasies about achievements, power, beauty, intelligence or romance
Has unreasonable expectation of favorable treatment
Needs constant attention and positive reinforcement from others
Is easily jealous

Open Thread * Children Sing for “Dear Leader” (by SusanUnPC at No Quarter)
Do those children and their parents have any clue about “Obama’s forgotten people”? Ask the tenants of Dear Leader’s financier Tony Rezko, whose tenants froze for months during a Chicago winter because Rezko didn’t manage the properties Obama’s influence gave him the means to buy up. Ask the mother of the little boy who died because Dear Leader’s close financial ally, Cullen Davis, couldn’t bother to maintain the iron fencing on the former public housing, which fell and crushed the little boy to death. (Watch that video, you privileged children and parents.) Ask the union employees of Maytag to whom Dear Leader promised he’d work hard to keep their jobs in Illinois, but when Dear Leader took money from the billionaire scion of the Crown family and a major owner of Maytag, it so happens that Dear Leader never even mentioned those Maytag workers to the one man with the influence to affect those workers, all of whose jobs left the country.

SoetorObama is minting gold coins with his face on them (HillBuzz)

Obama, Ayers and the Annenberg Challenge: Does Conservative Stanley Kurtz Get It Right? (by Steve Diamond at No Quarter, from his blog, Global Labor and Politics)
As far as it goes, Stanley Kurtz of the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center and the National Review Online, has done a reasonably good job in this essay in the Wall Street Journal of capturing the intimately close political relationship between Barack Obama and Bill Ayers in their work together on the $160 million Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC) from 1995 to 2002… Kurtz’ main argument is that the CAC was a continuation of the “radical” agenda towards education that Ayers developed as a civil rights and anti-war activist in the 1960s…

The Challenge was radical, but not the right wing’s simplistic view of “radicalism.”  Rather it represented an authoritarian and bureaucratic agenda – a desperate attempt to use parents to control teachers through a politically correct curriculum, yes, but more importantly to use them as canon fodder in the battle to control teachers and administrators.  This authoritarian approach is entirely consistent with Ayers’ long held political views as he has consistently sided politically with the most undemocratic regimes available, including most recently that of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. And at Ayers’ side the entire time during this battle was his comrade-in-arms, Barack Obama, who served as President and Chairman of the board of directors of the Challenge.
The CAC battled the current Mayor Daley on this issue, but Obama eventually made an accommodation with Daley and began to lodge his support for some of the most corrupt politicians in Illinois to show his loyalty and to obtain Daley’s support in return.

Possible change of heart (Chicago Tribune)
Antoin “Tony” Rezko, a convicted influence peddler who was once one of Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s most trusted confidants, has met with federal prosecutors and is considering cooperating in the corruption probe of the governor’s administration, sources told the Tribune… His cooperation would give prosecutors investigating the governor and his wife access to someone they have described as an ultimate political insider at the center of a pervasive pay-to-play scheme. Rezko’s trial this year laid bare a culture of scams, bribes and backroom deals stretching from City Hall to the Statehouse. It even became fodder in the presidential campaign of Democratic nominee Barack Obama, whose fundraising and personal ties to Rezko go back more than a decade.
One of the things Rezko may talk about is the role he played in the Obamas’ 2005 mansion purchase.

Racism. Again. (by Joseph Cannon at Cannonfire)
A brave poster at Democratic Underground dared to reprint (sans permission, but let that pass) the work of Anglachel and yours truly on the attempt to smear Bill Clinton as the begettor of the economic crisis. The response, from one AtomicKitten: “Nice racist PUMA source, wyldwolf. Shame on you.” Do we see any attempt to offer proof of my alleged “racism”? No. Do we see any attempt to mount a fact-based counter-argument to my piece? No. All we see is the odious redefinition of the word “racist” to mean “anyone who does not do homage to the Lightbringer.” Any anti-Clinton smear must be taken at face value, even when unsupported by any evidence. Remember when the left used to believe in reason?
No.  I can’t remember a time like that at all, Joseph.  I remember a time when the left SAID it believed in reason, but as we now see that was all a sham.

Dame rumor and the C-word (by Joseph Cannon at Cannonfire)
Around the “internets,” one still encounters progressives who affirm that John McCain once called his wife a “cunt” in front of witnesses. Those telling this story seem to be under the impression that the incident has been firmly established with all the rigor of a geometrical proof. In fact, everything comes down to a brief passage in Clif Schecter’s book The Real McCain… [Two supposed witnesses] denied the story. McCain called the report “completely fabricated.”… Most people recounting this incident seem to be under the impression that McCain made this outburst in front of three reporters… The reporters are never listed as direct ear-witnesses…

What stops those three reporters from telling the tale now? The fact that not one of them has ever put this yarn into print, even in this election season, indicates that Schecter’s sources were not witnesses, cannot produce any witnesses, and do not place much stock in the claim… All of which brings us to the larger story. This is the election season in which progressive “journalism” sank into the same putrescent bog which gave us much of the conservative “journalism” we’ve encountered over the past twenty years.

Lunch Break- Palin derangement syndrome… (by J –SOM at Liberal Rapture)
The Palin hatred that erupted on the Obama Left during and after the GOP convention is a continuation of the sexism directed at Clinton all year. There is an additional element that was present during the primaries but is now being showcased by Bill Mahr (she’s a stewardess), Sandra Berhnhart ( Palin needs to be “gang raped”), and the POD community at Huffington and elsewhere – it is class-ism. A deep seated hatred of working people – in particular, working white people. Though the moment a charismatic “whole foods” white liberal comes along and dethrones BHO – the black working class will come to – and realize Obama had none of their interests at heart. (whereas Clinton did)… [A]s for Palin’s experience … she still has more than Obama…

Bill Clinton and the Soft Sell (by anna shane at Alegre’s Corner)
In his recent appearance on The View, Bill Clinton made a masterful yet subtle pitch for Barack Obama.   Unlike the bludgeoning technique mainly employed by Barack’s supporters, Bill used the ’soft sell.’… Bill listed attributes of all the candidates Barack and John, Joe and Sarah. He acknowledged why John and Sarah are attractive, and made the case for Barack and Joe, not on any idea of uniqueness, but on Democratic ideas. Bill didn’t try to ’shame’ anyone for having possible race considerations, that work both for and against Barack, as gender worked both for and against Hillary.  He mentioned that a percentage of voters admit they took race or sex into consideration and Bill thinks that’s a good thing, because it’s ’said,’ it’s not ’subterranean,’ ‘hidden,’ but spoken and statistically factual, and can thus be discussed in ‘daylight.’

Chris Rock, in his appearance on the Letterman Show, arguably did much to negate Barack’s benefit from Bill’s soft pitch. He ‘interpreted’ Bill as someone who really wants Barack to lose… In his misunderstanding, Chris forgot that the voters Bill’s trying to win aren’t those who are enamored with Barack, but those not likely to get enamored… Chris also kept alive the ’sore winner’ pox that has infected Barack’s most obnoxious supporters.  It’s not enough that Barack won the primary for these ‘haters,’ they’re not about to let go of their anger, at Hillary and Bill, at Al, for, whatever.  Chris made it seem like Barack’s already lost and it’s all Bill’s fault.

Palin to Do More Interviews and ‘Tell Her Story’ (Politico)
Tacitly acknowledging criticism that she’s been diminished in part by an overly protective media shield, Sarah Palin will take a more forward-leaning approach and do additional interviews in the weeks ahead, a top aide said yesterday. “She’s seen the reviews and heard the criticism, but she’s a fighter,” said this aide. “And now she’s in a fighting mood.”

Alaska’s Blacks and Palin: a Strained Relationship (by Linn Washington, Jr. at the Black Agenda Report))
Alaska is one of 29 states that celebrates Juneteenth, marking the day Texas Blacks learned they had been emancipated. But the holiday, and Black concerns in general, seems to mean nothing to Gov. Sarah Palin, the White Queen of the North. “Alaskan blacks fault Palin for not hiring African-Americans, dismissing blacks from government posts, [and] spurning repeated requests to meet with black leaders to discuss issues of concern.”  Palin has “spurned” invitations to speak with Blacks on issues of “economic growth, educational deficiencies, family disintegration and young gang problems.”

42 Year old VP and former Governor becomes President (by NewHampster at Alegre’s Corner)
Who Am I?
• I am under 45 years old,
• I love the outdoors,
• I hunt,
• I am a Republican reformer,
• I have taken on the Republican Party establishment,
• I have many children,
• I have a spot on the national ticket as vice president with less than two years in the governor’s office.
[Answer:] Teddy Roosevelt

Palin Effect on Ratings Only Modest for CBS (New York Times)
Katie Couric’s newsmaking interviews with the Republican vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, last week had only a slight impact on the ratings for her CBS newscast. But if the network could have added up all the other viewers the interviews (and its spoof) racked up, on places like CNN, YouTube, and Saturday Night Live, Couric would surely have been more seen and talked about than in any week since she began her tenure as anchor.

Debate moderators (County Fair, Media Matters for America)
The right wing is in a frenzy about the fact that Gwen Ifill is working on a book about “emerging young African American politicians,” which supposedly means she cannot be neutral during the VP debate she is moderating tomorrow night.  Since the right wing is in a frenzy, we can be pretty sure the establishment media is about to join in. Two things to keep in mind: 1) The October 7 presidential debate will be moderated by NBC’s Tom Brokaw, who currently serves as NBC’s liaison to the McCain campaign — while spreading pro-McCain misinformation on Meet the Press.  In fact, the McCain campaign hand-picked Tom Brokaw to moderate the October 7 debate…

2) CBS’ Bob Schieffer moderated one of the 2004 debates, despite the fact that he is a longtime friend of George W. Bush who had previously acknowledged that his personal relationship with Bush made it difficult to cover him.  Schieffer’s brother was a business partner of Bush’s before Bush became president — and Bush made him an ambassador.
Yes, Media Matters, but didn’t we protest Schieffer’s conflict, and aren’t the blogs of the left protesting Brokaw?  If we can protest perceived bias, can’t the right do that, too?

NBC Sends ‘Cease-and-Desist’ Letter to Obama Camp Over Ad (TVNewser)
NBC has sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Obama campaign regarding a YouTube ad featuring Tom Brokaw anchoring a mock election night broadcast and Keith Olbermann’s voice announcing Sen. John McCain as the next President of the United States. The YouTube video, titled, “Bad News,” is a promotion for the site VoteForChange.com.

Factcheck: False ads from McCain on coal, Obama on stem cell research (On Politics, USA Today)
The non-partisan watchdog group Factcheck.org says Republican John McCain is running a false radio ad in four swing states. The ad, on stations in Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, says Democrat Barack Obama opposes clean coal technology… However, Obama has been pushing clean coal technology since May 2007… Factcheck is now pointing out that an Obama radio ad that says McCain opposes federal funding for embryonic stem cell research is wrong.

Black Radio Owner Produces Anti-Obama Ad (by Glen Ford at the Black Agenda Report)
“Never in the history of commercial Black media has a candidate for national office gotten as much free publicity of all kinds, as Barack Obama has reaped from Black-owned media.” But he still shorted them on campaign advertising.

33 Pastors Flout Tax Law With Political Sermons (Washington Post)
Defying a federal law that prohibits U.S. clergy from endorsing political candidates from the pulpit, an evangelical Christian minister told his congregation that voting for Sen. Barack Obama would be evidence of “severe moral schizophrenia.”  The Rev. Ron Johnson Jr. told worshipers that the Democratic presidential nominee’s positions on abortion and gay partnerships exist “in direct opposition to God’s truth as He has revealed it in the Scriptures.” Johnson showed slides contrasting the candidates’ views but stopped short of endorsing Obama’s Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain.

Johnson and 32 other pastors across the country set out Sunday to break the rules, hoping to generate a legal battle that will prompt federal courts to throw out a 54-year-old ban on political endorsements by tax-exempt houses of worship. The ministers contend they have a constitutional right to advise their worshipers how to vote. As Johnson put it during a break between sermons, “The point that the IRS says you can’t do it, I’m saying you’re wrong.”

Luke Russert Apologizes for Saying ‘Smart Kids’ Support Obama (MSNBC/First Read)
Luke Russert: Earlier [yesterday] the Today Show I misspoke and made what is without a doubt, quite simply a dumb comment. I MEANT to say that many of the kids who go to UVA are from affluent, highly educated households who are leaning Obama and hence their kids lean Obama.

Time’s Tumulty chides WaPo for burying US Atty article — but Time hasn’t published one (County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Time’s Karen Tumulty described an “underplayed story of the day”: “On A17 of the Washington Post: The U.S. Attorney scandal now has a new prosecutor of its own, after a scathing report confirms that there were, indeed, political motives at work in the firings.” A17?  That is, indeed, an underplayed story. You know who else has underplayed it?  Time magazine.

Lousiana lawmaker advocates eugenics: Sterilize poor women, encourage rich to procreate. (Think Progress)
The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that state Rep. John LaBruzzo (R) said yesterday that “he is studying a plan to pay poor women $1,000 to have their Fallopian tubes tied.” LaBruzzo worries that people receiving food and housing assistance “are reproducing at a faster rate than more affluent, better-educated residents