Permanent link to MTA daily media news

Bush Refuses To Interrupt His Final Vacation As Middle East Crisis Escalates (Think Progress)
In an effort to “prevent Palestinians from attacking towns in southern Israel with missiles,” Israel [Monday] undertook its third day of offensive military airstrikes in the Palestinian territory of Gaza, raising the death toll to more than 300… Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak called the situation “all out war.” While Bush has been briefed on the situation by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, he has opted not to interrupt his final vacation as president to make a public statement on the crisis.
Um, need I say that Obama ALSO refused to interrupt his vacation for the Middle East crisis?  Or that he, too, has been briefed by Rice?  Or that he, too, has not made a public statement on the crisis?

Huffington Post

MY vote for president went to someone who has convictions, and who lives them:
McKinney relief boat rammed by Israeli navy (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
A boat carrying international peace activists, including former Georgia congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, and medical supplies to the embattled Gaza Strip sailed back into a Lebanese port on Tuesday after being turned back and damaged by the Israeli navy, organizers of the trip said. The crowds on the docks in the Lebanese port city of Tyre were jubilant and cheering as they welcomed the vessel.

How You Can Help (by Susie at Suburban Guerrilla)
Medical supplies badly needed in Gaza. If you want to help, click here for details. “As the situation stands, Palestinian doctors are performing surgeries without surgical gloves, local or general anesthetics, gauze, sterilized equipment or sufficient oxygen for patients…” Because Americans who send supplies may be convicted of a federal crime, our only options are to donate to organizations in other countries, including Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, who is making a Gaza Emergency Appeal.

David Gregory shows why he’s the perfect replacement for Tim Russert (by Glenn Greenwald at Unclaimed Territory, Salon)
To see what Cheney aide Cathie Martin meant when she explained that Cheney knew he could go on Meet the Press and “control the message” — and to see in action David Gregory’s model of sycophantic, unchallenging “journalism” — one could do no better than to examine Gregory’s embarrassingly deferential “interview” yesterday with Israel’s Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni.  It’s a perfect template for how our American press corps (with some rare exceptions) functions.

Whatever one’s views are on Israel’s attack on Gaza — pro, con or otherwise — there’s no denying that it’s an extremely controversial matter — at least it is in the world that exists outside of mainstream American political discourse.  Even within Israel, there are scathing criticisms of what the Israeli Government is doing — on both strategic and moral grounds.  Yet none of those objections made their way into David Gregory’s interview of Livni.  He didn’t present her with a single argument against the Israeli attack.  He didn’t challenge a single word she uttered.  He was even more sycophantic with her than the average American journalist is with the average American political leader.
Click through to read a transcript of the interview.

Zbigniew Brzezinski on Gaza conflict (video)
Dec. 30: ‘Morning Joe’ host Joe Scarborough discusses the escalating conflict in the Mideast with former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski.
Watch Zbig tell Joe “You know, you have such a stunningly superficial knowledge of what went on that it’s almost embarrassing to listen to you.”  Zbig’s daughter Mika, as you may know, is the foil/co-host of the program.

The Third Rail (by Susie at Suburban Guerrilla)
Some signs of change in the blogosphere in the discussion over Israel and the Gaza war. In addition to the fine work of Glenn Greenwald, Jane Hamsher notes the pushback from Time’s Joe Klein; Open Left is home to some of the most thoughtful discussions around; and Greg Mitchell, editor of Editor & Publisher, is pushing the media to do their jobs… I don’t know what the solution is for the Middle East. But we won’t find it unless people are able to have a free and open discussion without being painted with the antisemitism brush. And while I don’t have any answers, I do know inhumanity when I see it.
Gee, do you think we might finally have a free and open discussion about an important issue, without resorting to calling each other names?  Can we disagree without being disagreeable?

Axelrove: We Have Always Been At War With EastAsia. (by madamab at The Confluence)
In July, I remarked upon the Orwellian nature of the Obama campaign. And why shouldn’t they be Orwellian – they have copied KKKarl Rove’s playbook down to the last semicolon, and La Turd Blossom has certainly been a fan of the visionary 1984 author… But no worries – we need not miss Rove and Bush for long. Here comes KKKarl’s younger, hairier brother, with his latest logic-twisting assertions. “‘You have a conservative evangelical pastor who’s coming to participate in the inauguration of a progressive president,’ Axelrod said from Chicago. ‘This is a healthy thing and a good thing for our country. We have to find ways to work together on the things on which we do agree, even when we profoundly disagree on other things.’”…

May I ask the LGBT Obama supporters out there what Obama has ever done for gay rights? Anyone? Bueller? In fact, his position on gay marriage is the same as Rick Warren’s. Oh, Mr. Obama may not compare it to pedophilia, polygamy or other aberrations, like Rick Warren did; but when Barack Obama’s voice was used in robocalls to tell his supporters in California to vote for Proposition 8, where was Mr. Obama’s protest? Why did he not vigorously state that using his voice in that context was wrong? Well, because as he has stated often, Barack Obama opposes same-sex marriage. Feeling hopey-changey yet, LGBT community?

Matt Davies

Responsibility (by Joseph Cannon at Cannonfire)
[Regarding the excerpt just above the cartoon:] At what point does a refusal to state “vigorously” your opposition to something being done by your supporters translate into an endorsement of the questionable activities of your supporters?

That question was at the heart of my falling away from Obama, and from the party, during the 2008 primaries. Daily Kos and the other progressive blogs, acting as instruments of the Obama campaign, ran the filthiest, most unforgivable propaganda barrage against Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin in the history of American political odium. Barack Obama did not personally spread filth except on a few occasions, as when he extended his middle finger to the former First Lady. But he said not one word against the filth-peddlers who ran his cult of personality. Can he really escape responsibility?

Monday: Live by the, you know, sword… (by riverdaughter at The Confluence)
Dear Caroline, … If your brother were asking to fill Hillary’s seat, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.  He would have been *well* qualified.  It wouldn’t have mattered a bit to New Yorkers how many times he had failed the bar exam.  He would have been a son of a president and we would have all passed pictures around the web of him saluting at his father’s funeral.  Little girls didn’t salute.  See, even at 3 years old, he had more in penis years than you did as his senior by 3 years. The drubbing that you are getting in the court of public opinion is an unintended consequence of your ill-considered endorsement of Barack Obama… [Y]ou have helped to set the bar so incredibly high for women candidates that it may be hard to find any woman in NY who will be able to meet the new standards set for them…

It was unfair to Hillary and Sarah and Linda Stender and every other woman who ran this year and lost.  It’s not fair to any of us that we can be reduced to a bunch of “you knows” and “I can see Russia from my house!” and “why didn’t Hillary cry for Katrina?”.  Now, Caroline Kennedy, that second in line to the throne after her younger brother, is going to be subjected to the same sexism and misogynism that reduced Hillary from one of the most powerful women in the world and Sarah from the governor of a crucial oil state with two international borders to charicatures of the calculating uber-bitch and brainless beauty queen respectively… I hear, you know, you are a lawyer.   Like, really?  You’d never know it from the press you’re getting. You know. Sincerely, RD
Except I don’t think that Caroline will be treated as badly as Hillary and Sarah.  She’ll be made to look silly, but she won’t be made into a vicious harpy.  It’s a class thing, you see.

Impeachment panel offered tapes on Blagojevich (Reuters)
Prosecutors agreed on Monday to provide an impeachment panel with tape-recordings in which investigators say Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is heard scheming to sell the powers of his office. Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. Attorney in Chicago, said he will ask a judge next week for permission to turn over redacted versions of four intercepted conversations in which investigators say Blagojevich is heard talking about exchanging state funding and contracts for campaign contributions.

Eligibility remains focus of Supremes’ conferences (WorldNetDaily)
A second conference has been posted on the docket for the U.S. Supreme Court over the issue of Barack Obama’s eligibility to occupy the White House, this one scheduled a week after Congress is to review the Electoral College vote tabulation. The latest issue posted is a request for an injunction on the election results pending the resolution of a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by attorney Philip J. Berg, a case that is docketed for a similar conference among the justices on Jan. 9… [M]ore than a dozen lawsuits have been filed over Obama’s eligibility to assume the office of the president, many have been dismissed, while others remain pending. The cases, in various ways, have alleged Obama does not meet the “natural born citizen” clause of the U.S. Constitution, Article 2, Section 1…

“Should Senator Obama be discovered, after he takes office, to be ineligible for the Office of President of the United States of America and, thereby, his election declared void,” argues the Alan Keyes case pending in California, “Americans will suffer irreparable harm in that (a) usurper will be sitting as the President of the United States, and none of the treaties, laws, or executive orders signed by him will be valid or legal.”
WorldNetDaily is a conservative rag, but they’re not lying in this article, as best I can tell.  Keyes states what worries me the most.  If we don’t settle this matter, every action Obama takes as president will be questioned, as to its legality.

MSNBC Host: It wouldn’t be ‘funny’ if someone called me ‘Tamron Hall the Magic Negro Anchor Lady.’ (Think Progress)
[Tuesday] on MSNBC, anchor Tamron Hall hosted a segment discussing RNC chair candidate Chip Saltsman’s Christmas greeting this year that contained a CD with the song “Barack the Magic Negro” on it. During the discussion, Kate Obenshain, vice president of Young America’s Foundation, defended the song, calling it “a parody.” But Hall, an African-American, quickly interjected, saying there is nothing “funny or amusing” about it… Hall later told Obenshain, “you’re not going to win a lot of people over calling them ‘Magic Negros.’”
Somehow, I don’t think attracting black people to the Republican Party was the reason behind the song.  Click through to watch the video.

The Barack the Magic Negro brouhaha (by J –SOM at Liberal Rapture)
Many people are angry about the lyrics below sung to the tune of Puff the Magic Dragon: “Barack the Magic Negro lives in D.C. / The L.A. Times, they called him that / ‘Cause he’s not authentic like me…” The rest of the song can be heard here. It is okay as far as satire goes. Not great. A little funny… I don’t see how this little piece of mockery crosses any line… In fact , until the end of the clip the entire song is mocking white liberals. Therein lies the real issue. The media reaction that makes this “news” (it is not) comes from whites who do not like being called out for what is an obvious truth: they voted for BHO in part because he’s black…

Obama consciously presented himself as a safe black man to whites. It was part of his plan. I, for one, reserve the right to mock the President of the United States and his fan base regardless of their race. The end of the clip dives into some mockery of Sharpton… Meanwhile a pastor who said all gays were child molesters and Jews would burn in hell will be giving the blessing at the inauguration. To THAT many of the same white liberals are yelping for gays and lesbians to “get over it.” Among the chattering “liberals” some victims of oppression are more worthy than others this year. Women, Jews, and gays get thine arses to the back of the bus and SHUT UP! 

Little Town Beseeches Obama’s Health Chief (New York Times)
DUBLIN, Ind. — Former Senator Tom Daschle, whom President-elect Barack Obama has called the “lead architect” of the new administration’s efforts to expand health insurance and rein in medical costs, attended a community meeting Monday where he got an earful about expenses that were too high and coverage that was too little… The gathering here in this small eastern Indiana town was one of thousands on health care being held around the country at the behest of the Obama transition, and the first attended by Mr. Daschle, whom Mr. Obama has chosen to be secretary of health and human services and director of the new White House Office of Health Reform.
I REALLY hate to be so cynical, but how can we expect Tom Daschle to put together anything that will solve the real problem—insurance companies?  He and his wife are both lobbyists for those very companies.

Webb Sets His Sights On Prison Reform (Washington Post)
This spring, [Sen. James] Webb (D-Va.) plans to introduce legislation on a long-standing passion of his: reforming the U.S. prison system. Jails teem with young black men who later struggle to rejoin society, he says. Drug addicts and the mentally ill take up cells that would be better used for violent criminals. And politicians have failed to address this costly problem for fear of being labeled “soft on crime.” It is a gamble for Webb, a fiery and cerebral Democrat from a staunchly law-and-order state. Virginia abolished parole in 1995, and it trails only Texas in the number of people it has executed. Moreover, as the country struggles with two wars overseas and an ailing economy, overflowing prisons are the last thing on many lawmakers’ minds.

But Webb has never been one to rely on polls or political indicators to guide his way. He seems instead to charge ahead on projects that he has decided are worthy of his time, regardless of how they play — or even whether they represent the priorities of the state he represents.
Good for Webb.  I wish our next president felt the same way.

Study: Premarital abstinence pledges are ineffective. (Think Progress)
A cornerstone of many abstinence-only programs is the concept of virginity pledges, which encourages “children as young as 9 to promise to wait until marriage to have sex.” But a new study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health finds that “teenagers who pledge to remain virgins until marriage are just as likely to have premarital sex as those who do not promise abstinence and are significantly less likely to use condoms and other forms of birth control when they do”… [This] study isn’t the first to indicate that virginity pledges are ineffective. In 2005, a study by Yale and Columbia University researchers found that “adolescents who pledge to remain virgins until marriage are more likely to substitute high-risk sexual behaviors that increase the likelihood of transmitting sexually transmitted diseases.”

Republican McConnell Seeks to Slow Economic Stimulus Measure (Bloomberg)
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he wants to slow consideration of an economic stimulus package that Democrats are hoping to send to President- elect Barack Obama soon after he takes office. McConnell yesterday called for giving lawmakers and the public at least one week to review the legislation once it has been written. He said he wanted Senate committee hearings on the measure, rather than immediate floor consideration.
Well, that’s a switch.  McConnell helped push through every poorly considered initiative that Bush ever sent to Congress.  I agree that legislators ought to read and debate before they pass legislation, but somehow I don’t think that’s really what McConnell is talking about.  I’ll be he’s signaling that the Republicans are going to obstruct everything the Obama administration tries to pass through Congress.

US Treasury throws 6-billion-dollar lifeline to GMAC (AFP)
The US Treasury unveiled a six-billion-dollar package Monday to assist GMAC, the troubled financial arm ofGeneral Motors seen as vital to the survival of America’s largest automaker. The Treasury said in a statement it would purchase five billion dollars in senior preferred equity with an eight percent dividend from GMAC, which is also partially owned by Chrysler parent company Cerberus Capital Management, and make a one-billion-dollar loan to General Motors. In exchange, Treasury would receive warrants from GMAC in the form of additional preferred equity equal to five percent of the preferred stock purchase and would be paid a nine-percent dividend if used.

Holiday Sales Drop to Force Bankruptcies, Closings
Bloomberg) — U.S. retailers face a wave of store closings, bankruptcies and takeovers starting next month as holiday sales are shaping up to be the worst in 40 years. Retailers may close 73,000 stores in the first half of 2009, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Bernie’s funda-mental defense (Rush & Molloy, New York Daily News)
If you thought Bernard Madoff’s $50 billion investment scheme was audacious, get ready for his alibi. Lawyers for the accused scammer are exploring an insanity defense, we hear. “Bernie’s family and his attorneys may argue that, somewhere along the line, he had a mental break,” says a Madoff acquaintance. “They may even say he has a multiple personality disorder.”

Disagreeing With Martin Feldstein On Defense Spending (by Stan Collender, thanks to Economist’s View)
[D]ollar for dollar, military spending doesn’t provide as much an economic return as domestic spending. Building an extra tank or missile that then sits idle because it’s not needed provides a one-time boost to the economy. But building a road, bridge, tunnel, sewer, or information superhighway that is needed continues to provide benefits as people, goods, and information travel faster, less expensively, and far more productively than would have otherwise been the case. That means that starting with the headline, Feldstein was seriously mistaken.

Republicans Call Special Meeting (Political Wire)
“For the first time in party history, members of the Republican National Committee have called their own unscheduled meeting without the aid of the Washington-based party apparatus,” according to The Hill. It’s just another sign that the Republican party lacks a natural leader after getting blown out in two consecutive election cycles.

Farewell to All That: An Oral History of the Bush White House (Vanity Fair)
The threat of 9/11 ignored. The threat of Iraq hyped and manipulated. Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib. Hurricane Katrina. The shredding of civil liberties. The rise of Iran. Global warming. Economic disaster. How did one two-term presidency go so wrong? A sweeping draft of history—distilled from scores of interviews—offers fresh insight into the roles of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and other key players.

Reading Into Bush’s Book List (by Richard Cohen)
It is awfully late in the day for Rove — and, presumably, Bush — to assert the president’s intellectual bona fides. Now feeling the hot breath of History, they are dropping the good ol’ boy persona and picking up the ol’ bifocals one. But the books themselves reveal — actually, confirm — something about Bush that maybe Rove did not intend. They are not the reading of a widely read man, but instead the books of a man who seeks — and sees — vindication in every page. Bush has always been the captive of fixed ideas. His books just support that… My hat is off to Bush for the sheer volume and, often, quality of his reading. But his books reflect a man who is seeking to learn what he already knows. The caricature of Bush as unread died today — or was it yesterday? But the reality of the intellectually insulated man endures.

Iranian-Canadian blogger detained, judiciary says
TEHRAN (Reuters) – A prominent Iranian-Canadian blogger has been detained and his case is being investigated, Iran’s judiciary said on Tuesday in the first official public confirmation about his whereabouts.

Liberty Media’s Boss, a Hero to His Shareholders
John Malone appears to have salvaged some semblance of value for his shareholders when Liberty Media swapped a large chunk of the News Corporation for a package of assets that included a stake in the satellite broadcaster DirecTV, a pile of cash and some regional sports cable networks.

A Brief History of Modern Lying Authors
In the last 10 years, “fake” memoirs have appeared everywhere, ranging in mendacity from “unverifiable details” to “totally fabricated.” Here’s a look back at the four biggest sham memoir writers and what brought their discrepancies to light.

Connors, Purcell Not in Boston Globe Deal
Both Boston Herald publisher Patrick Purcell and former Boston advertising executive Jack Connors flatly ruled out being involved in deals to buy the Boston Globe, which is owned by the New York Times Co. Connors further said he had no interest in buying the Times Co.’s stake in the Boston Red Sox.

Film Critic Ben Lyons Gets Many Thumbs Down
Is Ben Lyons the most hated film critic in America? In the four months since the fresh-faced 27-year-old was installed to co-host a revamped version of At the Movies, he has gotten a resounding thumbs down from an angry mob of film bloggers, columnists, professional movie critics, and fans of the show.

At NBC, There Is No Script For Success (by Lisa de Moraes, Washington Post)
: NBC is averaging less than 8 million prime-time viewers this season, trailing front-runner CBS by about 4 million, though only by about a half-million among 18-to-49-year-old viewers. In just a few short years, NBC, once the best brand in broadcast TV, has become virtually irrelevant.

Anderson Cooper Doesn’t Want to Start a Web Site
“There’s a real global impact with CNN,” the anchor tells Choire Sicha. “It’s not really about mass distribution. It’s more about just telling stories that affect people’s lives… There’s a lot of opportunities at CNN that if I had a little Web site somewhere I don’t think I could take part in.”

Online Piracy Menaces Pro Sports
After years of focusing on the pirating of highlight clips and photos on the Web, the major sports leagues are finding that pirated feeds of live games are now common.

Voice Messaging for Groups: Top Services Compared (Mashable)
Even though it’s not a new concept, sending voice message blasts to a group of people appears to be a service on the rise. We’ve decided to break down four sites with distinct offerings in the hopes that you can easily find your preferred option for sending rapid voice messages to groups. From freemium to premium, and simple to robust, you’ve definitely got options should you opt in favor of voice message broadcasting.
Click through for an evaluation.

TV Retains Marketing Dollars in Hard Times
While newspapers, magazines, radio and local television are all losing advertisers in the recessionary economy, the broadcast networks continue to be an anomaly, with advertisers putting their marketing dollars into national television at levels reminiscent of prosperous economic times.

Top 10 Reputation Tracking Tools Worth Paying For (Mashable)
Reputation management is essential to both individuals and companies… You should consider paid services if you are unable to manage and keep your pulse on your online reputation. Also, paid services help you analyze and understand the magnitude and sentiment of conversations around your brand, which would take you even longer if you did it manually. Services start out at a minimal price of $1 for individual bloggers and shoot up over $100,000 for large enterprises. If you are considering using a paid service, select the one that best matches your current situation and scale up as your requirements grow.

Give Us More Bandwidth
Hotels, conference centers and event organizers struggle to provide enough Net access for corporate clients.

InfoWorld’s guide to the best mobile devices
San Francisco – The iPhone started it, but everyone and his brother now seem to have a fancy smartphone on offer. If it’s time to join the “mobile 2.0″ generation, the InfoWorld Test Center can help you make the right choice. We’ve reviewed the new generation of mobile devices and sussed out their strengths and weaknesses.