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Guest
06-02-2008, 10:07 PM
Thank goodness for the neutrality and objectivity of the mailstream media.


Obama Is "Something Special"

"Presidential campaigns have destroyed many bright and capable
politicians. But there's ample evidence that [Senator Barack] Obama
is something special, a man who makes difficult tasks look easy, who
seems to touch millions of diverse people with a message of hope that
somehow doesn't sound Pollyannaish."
-- AP writer Charles Babington in a May 10 dispatch.


Following Her Liberal Heart

"I see this as a moment of transformational change in the country and
I have spent my lifetime sitting on the sidelines watching people
attempt to make change. I just decided that I can't sit on the
sidelines anymore."
-- Former ABC and CBS correspondent Linda Douglass confirming that
she was going to work for the Obama campaign, as recounted by The
Atlantic's Marc Ambinder in a May 21 blog entry.


Beware GOP Vote Thieves

* "They've [the Obama camp] been arguing that their electoral map is
different, that they can do this with North Carolina and Colorado,
and other places where they have won either primaries or caucuses.
Other people, I should point out, other Clinton loyalists, but
realists, say that that electoral map is a stretch in one regard:
There are, you know, Republican governors and Secretaries of State,
if you will, Katherine Harris-type election officials in those
states. So, even though he may have won primaries or caucuses in
those states, he has to go up against the establishment, which would
be Republican, and he has to figure out a way to get a fair vote if
he's the nominee in those red states."
-- NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell during MSNBC's live primary
night coverage, May 20.

* CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin: "There are four very
conservative Justices there [on the U.S. Supreme Court]. They decided
a case about Indiana election law."
Host Bill Moyers: "Upholding the state's voter
identification....What did you think about that?"
Toobin: "Well, I thought it was a bad decision, but a predictable
one, because it was a very clear attempt by Republicans to stop
Democrats from voting. I don't think there's any doubt about what the
motivation was of that law....The fact is electoral fraud scarcely
exists in this country. The real agenda was to help Republicans."
-- PBS's Bill Moyers Journal, May 23.


Democratic Racists vs. Obama

* MSNBC's Chris Matthews: "You could have predicted West Virginia
20 years ago....These people made up their mind in '57. I mean, I
don't think any other argument -- should it be Barack Obama or
Hillary Clinton?"
Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan, laughing: "What an indictment!
What an indictment of your party, Chris!"
Matthews: "No, it may be a suggestion of understanding the
geography of America."
-- Exchange on MSNBC's Morning Joe on May 13, previewing that day's
Democratic primary in West Virginia.


"Grotesque" and a "Sucker Punch"

* "What was he up to in the Knesset today with that, well, you'd have
to call it a sucker punch over there? In the Knesset, in Israel,
which was, you know, so much to do with the Holocaust, let's be
honest. In terms of the world and the way it looks, the necessity of
a state of Israel, a Jewish state. And to go in there and basically
accuse the Democrats of selling out the Jews of Europe. I mean, an
amazing charge right there in, in the homeland! Incredible!"
-- MSNBC's Chris Matthews talking about the President's speech before
the Israeli parliament, May 15 Hardball.

"John McCain was trying to say in his speech yesterday that he stands
for a new kind of politics, that he's above of this sort of
traditional, slash and burn politics and, yet, he then embraces in
what is clearly an intellectually grotesque and dishonest statement
by President Bush."
-- MSNBC's David Shuster on MSNBC News Live, May 16.


NBC Scolds the President

"How do you feel that Iran is -- its position in the world is rising
because of your actions in Iraq?"

"If you look back over the last several years, the Middle East that
you'll be handing over to the next president has, is deeply
problematic. You have Hamas in power, Hezbollah empowered, taking to
the streets, Iran empowered, Iraq still at war. What region are you
handing over?"

"The war on terrorism has been the centerpiece of your presidency.
Many people say that it has not made the world safer, that it has
created more radicals, that there are more people in this part of the
world who want to attack the United States."
-- NBC's Richard Engel to President Bush in an interview shown on
NBC's Today, May 19. The White House later complained to NBC that the
network "deceitfully" edited the President's answers.


No Mention He's a Psycho

* "What I didn't see I thought was interesting as well. There was
hardly any mention of his mental health. There was no mention of
depression. You know, this is a man who had two admittedly weak
suicide attempts when he was a prisoner of war. There was no mention
of post-traumatic stress disorder or anything that may have been
asked, or substance abuse. None of that was even mentioned."
-- CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta discussing John McCain's medical records on
the CBS Evening News, May 23.


Missed Chance to Loathe America

"In private discussions with friends and colleagues, some of them
have pointed out that McCain, who was shot down and captured in 1967,
spent the worst and most costly years of the war sealed away, both
from the rice paddies of Indochina and from the outside world. During
those years, McCain did not share the disillusioning and morally
jarring experiences of soldiers like Kerry, Webb and Hagel, who found
themselves unable to recognize their enemy in the confusion of the
jungle; he never underwent the conversion that caused Kerry, for one,
to toss away some of his war decorations during a protest at the
Capitol. Whatever anger McCain felt remained focused on his captors,
not on his own superiors back in Washington."
-- Contributing writer Matt Bai profiling John McCain in the New York
Times Magazine, May 18.


Obama Gets a Freebie from ABC

"Timed for maximum exposure, timed to coincide with the evening
newscasts, timed to give Barack Obama a needed boost after his bad
defeat yesterday in West Virginia -- George Stephanopoulos, this
[endorsement from John Edwards] is the kind of publicity that you
can't buy."
-- Anchor Charles Gibson wrapping up ABC's live coverage of the Obama-
Edwards rally on World News, May 14.


"Shut the Hell Up!"

"As a final crash of self-indulgent nonsense, when the
incontrovertible truth of your panoramic and murderous deceit has
even begun to cost your political party seemingly perpetual
congressional seats....When somebody asks you, sir, about the cooked
books and faked threats you foisted on a sincere and frightened
nation; when somebody asks you, sir, about your gallant, noble, self-
abdicating sacrifice of your golf game so as to soothe the families
of the war dead; this advice, Mr. Bush: Shut the hell up! Good night
and good luck."
-- MSNBC's Keith Olbermann in a "Special Comment" on Countdown, May 14.


No More Food & Medicine

Anchor Charles Gibson: Tonight, gas and diesel hit another record.
People tell us they're sacrificing food, health, and their lifestyle
just to fill the tank."...
Reporter Dan Harris: "The pain is being felt all over the country.
We here at ABC News are getting flooded with messages from people
like Rosaria Giamei, who says, ‘I even stopped filling a much-
needed monthly prescription that costs $45 so I will have more money
for gas.'"
-- ABC's World News, May 19.


Jeremiah Wright, Media Victim

"He was assassinated by soundbites....His whole career was being
summed up in soundbites that added up to no more than 20 seconds,
endlessly played through the media grinder of our national press. He
was angry about that.... He was like a man who goes out and picks up
the morning newspaper and gets hit by a cyclone!"
-- PBS's Bill Moyers talking about Reverend Jeremiah Wright on Comedy
Central's The Daily Show on May 13.


Do As I Say, Not As I Do

"Now to the most absurd analogy of the day. In praising John McCain
for his stoicism while he was tortured in Vietnam, Georgia Republican
Party Chair Sue Everhart had this to say about her candidate, quote,
'John McCain is kind of like Jesus Christ on the cross.' Well, I
think John Lennon made that mistake when he said the Beatles were
more popular than Jesus. Let's cool it with those comparisons."
-- MSNBC's Chris Matthews on Hardball, May 19.

vs.

"When I watched him [former President Bill Clinton] at Mrs. King's
funeral, I just have never seen anything like it.... There are times
when he sounds like Jesus in the temple."
-- Matthews on Hardball, February 28, 2007.


Quick, Get Them an Atlas

* Co-host Harry Smith: "In which ocean are the South Sandwich
Islands located? A sixth grader from Nebraska answered that question.
It's in the -- is it in the Atlantic? I thought the Sandwich Islands
were actually named after the Earl of -- it's Hawaii. That's not
right. I'm so sorry. Other -- you know what, let's-"
Co-host Julie Chen: "No, it's in which ocean, so that is right. So
it's the Atlantic Ocean."
Smith: "Hawaii is not in the Atlantic Ocean."
Chen: "Oh, it's in the Pacific."
-- Discussing the winners of National Geographic's geography bee on
CBS's The Early Show, May 22.

Guest
06-02-2008, 10:40 PM
A neutral press is like a thief with a conscience - a fairy tale!

it doesn't matter what the issue, objective reporting has become an oxymoron. Freedom of the press has always been more for the freedom to achieve a Pulitzer and the money that goes with it.

Reminds me of an old Reader's Digest page-filler I once saw describing a Trans-Siberian road rally with only two cars in the race, one from the USSR and one from the USA. UPI reported the race results as "the USA car won the USA-USSR road rally across the Siberian plains." Pravda reported the race results as "We are pleased to report that in the Trans-Siberian Road rally, the illustrious team from the USSR came in second, and that the scurrilous team from the USA finished next-to-last."

Morale of the story: It's not that hard to describe lemon juice as lemonade, as most people will never bother to taste it to be sure.

Guest
06-02-2008, 11:10 PM
Morale of the story: It's not that hard to describe lemon juice as lemonade, as most people will never bother to taste it to be sure.


Steve, I have never heard that one before. I like it. Too true, too true, as is your entire comment. I will undoubtedly steal the lemon juice line and use it, possibly even as my own a la Joe Biden, some time in the future

Guest
06-03-2008, 12:26 AM
Sometimes the truth is just the truth and it only appears slanted if it doesn't replicate one's own opinion.

Guest
06-03-2008, 01:35 AM
The prince of unbiased journalism, Dan rather.

Guest
06-03-2008, 05:17 PM
Sometimes the truth is just the truth and it only appears slanted if it doesn't replicate one's own opinion.

History is always written by the conquerer, never by the vanquished. I believe there is such a thing as the objective truth, but i also believe that mankind has shown to be incapable of documenting it objectively.

Guest
06-03-2008, 10:34 PM
So many, so wrong, heh Steve?

Guest
06-04-2008, 05:24 PM
So many, so wrong, heh Steve?

Excuse me????

Guest
06-04-2008, 06:00 PM
Not sure if this is true Steve. William Wallace sure got bad press when he was alive but then along came Mel Gibson with Braveheart to make a very heroic figure who was treated as a criminal by some historians.

The Native Americans got very bad press for a long time especially when they were still an active threat to frontiersmen and women. Then along came Hollywood and authors like Dee Brown.

Jesse James is another very interesting figure as far as how writers and historians have treated him.

Guest
06-05-2008, 06:23 PM
Not sure if this is true Steve. William Wallace sure got bad press when he was alive but then along came Mel Gibson with Braveheart to make a very heroic figure who was treated as a criminal by some historians.

The Native Americans got very bad press for a long time especially when they were still an active threat to frontiersmen and women. Then along came Hollywood and authors like Dee Brown.

Jesse James is another very interesting figure as far as how writers and historians have treated him.


There is a signficant difference between the history which we teach and maintain as factual, versus what is sold at $7.50 per seat in a theater, plus popcorn. Literary and "artistic " license taken a century (or a few of them) later blurs the facts intentionally, whether to romanticize or demonize, whichever provides the greater return on investment.

I enjoy a good story as much as the next person, but regard commercial theater as what it is - storytelling for profit. The entertainment industry is just that- industry. And it is easier to manipulate an historical event or segment of a person's life than it is to write an original screenplay. Even better is the manipulation when all who were there or knew the person are dead - no one around to contradict!