Hello there!

Ned!

Sorry Ned!

It’s depressing that it is so novel…

R O O T Z !!!

Too true about the fact that once something is out there, an apology won’t completely take it back.

But it is nice to see them make the effort.

At a certain point, once this stuff is out there the damage is done and no amount of recanting can take it back.

I agree. The infraction gets way more press and air time than does an apology. I also think the goopers know this and it’s why they are always baselessly shooting their mouths off. I’m talkin’ to you Mr. DICK Cheney

Actually, I think making a public apology like this helps to delegitimize future statements by the gabbing class. This is a great moment of “working the refs.” Now that Roberts had to fess up to being a boob on the boob tube he’ll be more careful with his words. And I’m sure his blow-dried mannequin compatriots will want to avoid a similar experience. Every time we make these clowns eat their words we move further away from the pure GOP propaganda noise machine.

(By the way, I don’t consider what Chuck Roberts said to be an apology. It was free of any culpability for his actions, almost Reagan-esque. “I don’t think I said the bad words, but somehow they came out of my mouth.”)

Thanks for thanking Arianna, Jane. I think she deserves a lot of the credit for this apology. She clearly has the high-profile ability to really make a difference on an issue when she wants to [her report of her Lexis-Nexis search is probably the reason Roberts acknowledged that there was no “someone” saying what he claimed “some were saying” about Lamont].

This is a very decent apology from Chuck Roberts. He made it more authentic by actually bringing Ned on the air to give it to him personally and to give Ned a chance to give his side of the story. That is responsible and accountable behavior, and I hope we start seeing more of it from those in the “television journalism” profession.

it remains to be seen if this is more than an anomaly………..

To my mind, this isn’t so much about undoing the damage, but engaging in a little preventive medicine. Put it this way: Who wants to be the next anchor/host who has to apologize, on the air, to the victim of a stupid ad lib?

No, the apology won’t do much for Ned today, but when the next “Democrats who question the war are supporting terrorists” story comes along – and it will come, don’tcha know – maybe the anchors will think twice before buying into the swill when coming up with their own remarks.

oh Hi Jane Hamsher ! –

was thinking it was Christy until I read “stroking Charles Johnson” – lol

hope you and the poodles are rested.

fyi- despite Roberts’ best efforts, Ned is being well received here in God’s country – the folks seem to recognize honesty and decency when given a chance

I wonder if Roberts had to fight CNN honchos for the right to apologize. Hmm. This may have been a semi-heroic moment for him. Or not.

Chuck Roberts is a lickspittle! And so is George Allen.

I have many issues with CNN. They’re not the news organization they used to be.

However, we denizens of the Net are so often accused of being pajama clad nerds who only overreact and complain. I am going to email them some kudos for addressing this huge gaffe.
It’s heartening to see their professionalism, and it was a classy move.

Sent them an email months back about Ms. Kagan and some of her remarks. She’s leaving ..maybe our collective efforts are proving to be like water on the proverbial stone.

puppethead @
8

Actually, I think making a public apology like this helps to delegitimize future statements by the gabbing class. This is a great moment of “working the refs.” Now that Roberts had to fess up to being a boob on the boob tube he’ll be more careful with his words. And I’m sure his blow-dried mannequin compatriots will want to avoid a similar experience. Every time we make these clowns eat their words we move further away from the pure GOP propaganda noise machine.

(By the way, I don’t consider what Chuck Roberts said to be an apology. It was free of any culpability for his actions, almost Reagan-esque. “I don’t think I said the bad words, but somehow they came out of my mouth.”)

Agreed on all points.

That he had to do it face to face with Ned and then Ned had a chance to address the question directly is the real victory. It’s not all I wished, but it is more than I expected.

Congrats to all the happy warriors who contributed to it, including la belle Arianna.

If you saw the interview it was clear that Lamont is in a different class to Cheney. No ad hominum attacks…just a recitation of the plain facts. People will begin to notice…

Folks, I think that this is very important matter. Chuck Roberts wouldn’t apologize unless he was under great pressure or unless he was a very honest and ethical man and realized how unethical his “Al Qaeda” question was.

I am going to stick with him being under enormous pressure to recant.

This rareley ever happens, but has just happened.

The power of the people to beat back ignorance and propaganda is working.

This should be viewed as a moral victory. The press will have a harder time getting away with this shit now.

Not only did he apologize but he gave Ned Lamont, winner of the Connecticut primary face time too.

Lookat Scarborough and Carlson too shifting to the center. Lookat Olbermann. Even Ann Coulter of the Bush/Coulter Republican Party has recently lost a few columns in a few papers as of late.

Then lookat at the frothing Fox All-Stars.

Who’s winning?

-GSD

Puppethead at 8: here here! Every little bit helps. There are small indications in the press that they’re starting to wake up (look at Chris Mattews lately, and today the very well-groomed George Will). They might finally be getting weary of the tired old gooper mantras that increasingly make no sense to adult thinkers, and perhaps they they don’t want to look naive any longer. I say that with healthy skepticism and vigilance, of course.

What GSD said

Well – to the Republicans, calling somebody an “al Quaeda candidate” might not be such an insult, given the fact that they couldn’t care less about al Quaeda at the moment – they are busy prosecuting the war in Iraq.

Fiyero 19:

look at Chris Mattews lately

He sees dead people! :)

CT Bob @
6

Too true about the fact that once something is out there, an apology won’t completely take it back.

But it is nice to see them make the effort.

I wouldn’t want to minimize this accomplishment, that the Lamont backers were able to get an MSM person to say “apology” and “posed it badly, stupidly” on the air. Now I hope that the Lamont campaign people can get the complete interview video clip appearing on all the CT local broadcasts this evening, where it will count the most.

Just as attempts to convince the public should never label one’s opponents as Nazis or Fascists, it should be equally true that the MSM shouldn’t be resorting to the traitor or weak on security theme just because someone disagrees with the administration. This on-air apology should not go unnoticed by other broadcasters when they are tempted to use the “some people say” Swift Boat approach to increasing the viewer audience.

Jenny from the Blog @ 22

Fiyero 19:

look at Chris Mattews lately

He sees dead people! :)

Oh yeah – that was priceless, as was the look on his face at the end of that interview. Total condescension towards Lieberman.

I have such a low opinon of CNN’s top brass I’m sticking to my theory that Roberts had to pressure THEM to let him make this apology. He’d probably like to have a career in the future and in retrospect the slur made him sick.

Well, it’s a bit Pollyanna-ish but…

One small step for media kind.

I just sent an email via the cnn headline news page here , in case anyone wants it. I like the idea of corporate media types finding out the netroots can be very sweet when they just do their jobs!

Somebody said

“Success has a thousand fathers but failure is an orphan.”

Nowhere is this more true than with the MSM. Unless it’s with politicians.

Blood is in the water, right?

Accountability: it’s a good thing. Considering how little there has been, the small amount offered here is a positive step.

As people power increases, the MSM better get used to eating their words!

This apology actually makes me very happy. We get so few of them from the MSM even after the most dreadful statements that this gives me hope. Maybe now they will start to realize that they can’t just say any nasty thing that might enter their pea brains when talking about the left.

It’s a darn good start IMO.

Yay, Arianna, and YAY, skippy, who provided us with contact information for HNN’s advertisers!

Eureka Springs, AR @ 26

One small step for media kind.

Someone make sure it’s archived safely before they lose that…

I like to think my email helped. I said something like, “So we’re dying in Iraq so you can call people we vote for AL QAEDA? F$*% You.”

If an anchor chair has to apologize to a GOoPer, it happens just before they lose their job. Just ask Dan Rather.

This is a positive development, but it will be much better when the squawking heads start soiling themselves before smearing a Democrat. When they fear for their jobs, this crap will end.

Let’s start looking at the feces covered toilet seat that is Glenn Beck and hanging him around the necks of CNN.

From Mediamatters:

“Iranian Pres. Ahmadinejad is Howard Dean”

http://mediamatters.org/items/200608140008

-GSD

I’m with GSD; we have to celebrate with the victories we have, not the victories we want…

Heh.

But seriously, this is where the carrot-and-stick should be used. Apparently somebody got a heavy dose of stick, now we need to apply the carrot to reinforce the message.

Anybody got Robert’s contact info, or an ombudsman’s contact info?

And do the same for Arianna, let her know you recognize the link between her efforts and Robert’s apology.

try this for CNN hn email – comments about chuck & linda

I’m willing to believe that there are a lot of times when media hosts don’t intentionally repeat GOP talking points, they just don’t think about it, because the wingers are good at working the refs.

Since a lot of them like to think of themselves as impartial, when we do get them to think about it, they’ll be less likely to do it. So even an acknowledgement that it was thoughtless and stupid is a win.

Jenny from the Blog @ 25

Well, it’s a bit Pollyanna-ish but…

diogenes @ 30

the MSM better get used to eating their words!

Polly wanna cracker? Oh, my mistake; that’s the George Allen wink-wink apology…

This is a far better apology than George Allen’s non-apology.

I’m sick of people saying liberal like it is a bad thingy. According to Answers.com:

LIBERAL SYNONYMS – bounteous, bountiful, freehanded, generous, handsome, munificent, openhanded. These adjectives mean willing or marked by a willingness to give unstintingly: a liberal backer of the arts; a bounteous feast; bountiful compliments; a freehanded host; a generous donation; a handsome offer; a munificent gift; fond and openhanded grandparents. See also synonyms at broad-minded.

INTOLERANT SYNONYMS: Unwilling to tolerate differences in opinions, practices, or beliefs, especially religious beliefs.
Opposed to the inclusion or participation of those different from oneself, especially those of a different racial, ethnic, or social background.
==

My question is this:
When are we going to start calling Republicans Intolerants?

GSD – no kidding. That guy is a plain embarrassment. I wonder how split CNN/HNN itself is over him. I’ll write them today. Media Matters has done an awesome job tracking him.

punaise, you so bad. !

Nobody was too sorry blaming Ned for the crashed website though, huh?

EPU’d, OfT then, sorta on now, if the topic is media accountability:

TeddySanFran @ 138

OfT:

The Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch “reports” on the Allen racial slur here:

http://www.timesdispatch.com/s…..#038;path=!news&s=1045855934842

My response here:

Hello —

The article appearing on your website today, which may also appear in the newspaper, with regard to Senator George Felix Allen Junior’s racist slur, is incomplete. The word “macaca” is a a known derogatory term in Belgium and Tunisia for persons of dark skin, coming from the word “macaque,” a type of monkey. By omitting this fact and that Senator Allen’s heritage is Tunisian/European on his mother’s side, you omit critical context.

Your readers deserve better, if they are to properly evaluate Senator Allen’s so-called denial and so-called apology.

As a former resident of Virginia, I am embarassed that Senator Robb’s seat is filled by this poseur and racist. Surely Virginia voters will reject him this fall?

Teddy

This may blow up as big as Trent’s Strom deal, if we can keep the pressure on the media to report it. WaPo had it this morning, and I am really surprised the Times-Dispatch ran with it. This could really hurt Allen in the DeeCee suburbs, which are now extraordinarily diverse, compared to when I grew up there.

GSD, I’m so with you on the need to neutralize Glenn Beck.

I’d like to express some caution. While “the press” seems to be pushing back against the onslaught of GOP propaganda, I don’t think I’d characterize it as “waking up.” Seems to me they’re finally noticing public opinion and are beginning to position themselves for relevance once the Bush cargo cult collapses.

I see very little evidence of any resurgence in journalistic professionalism, just a bunch of performers trying to make sure they can keep their place in the spotlight.

It was a brain fart.

ccmask – Good one, intolerants.

LindaR

thanks so much for the CNN link above – been there, posted that

cbl @ 51

LindaR

thanks so much for the CNN link above – been there, posted that

ditto {how I love typing that!!}

ccmask @ 42

I’m sick of people saying liberal like it is a bad thingy. According to Answers.com:

LIBERAL SYNONYMS – bounteous, bountiful, freehanded, generous, handsome, munificent, openhanded. These adjectives mean willing or marked by a willingness to give unstintingly: a liberal backer of the arts; a bounteous feast; bountiful compliments; a freehanded host; a generous donation; a handsome offer; a munificent gift; fond and openhanded grandparents. See also synonyms at broad-minded.

INTOLERANT SYNONYMS: Unwilling to tolerate differences in opinions, practices, or beliefs, especially religious beliefs.
Opposed to the inclusion or participation of those different from oneself, especially those of a different racial, ethnic, or social background.
==

My question is this:
When are we going to start calling Republicans Intolerants?

I do like that list of synonyms, cc. But unfortunately, most Republicans don’t think “intolerant” is an insult. They take self-righteous pride in their intolerance.

I think LindaR had it right when she said a few days ago that we need to mock them, not criticize them. We need to find ways of describing them that show how ridiculous they are.

TeddySF 46 – excellent letter! You may want to cc cnn and ap…

Allen offhand remark causes flap

Old Sow @ 47

GSD, I’m so with you on the need to neutralize Glenn Beck.

Uugggg! My theory is that since CNN has been getting killed in ratings but Fox, they have tried to become more like Fox, using the HN division to test drive their new orientation. More ratings equals more money. Let’s not forget that the people in control are in it for the money.

On another note, Blitzer is gonna talk about Allen’s comments. How much do u wanna bet viewers don’t get the full stroy?

puppethead @
48

I see very little evidence of any resurgence in journalistic professionalism, just a bunch of performers trying to make sure they can keep their place in the spotlight.

I fear you’re right. Which makes it important that we push back on everything.

We need to go for the accumulated watchdog effect.

Here’s what I sent:

I wanted to express my appreciation for your apology to Ned Lamont. It was a classy move, and one that is all too rare in our current media environment.

I look forward to the day when politicians’ attempts to equate their opponents with our country’s enemies or with traitors are reported as shameful smears that have no place in our political discourse, rather than statements that are “out there” and must be covered neutrally by anyone who is not a partisan. Perhaps then we would see some real civility in politics.

It should cost the cnn employ his job but it won’t– they all suck.
mike

Re: Chris Matthews. It’s already been pointed out that Matthews is a follower who goes with what he perceives as the CW, and is bashing Lieberman/criticizing the war because he’s read the polls and knows that’s the way the mood of the country is going.

But I am also remembering Jack Walsh’s description of how he brought Matthews to heel by telling him he needed to report in a way that favored his employer’s (GE’s) bottom line. So does anyone here think that Matthews has not been given the go-ahead to do what he’s doing now wrt Lieberman and the war?

Whether Robert’s apology undoes the damage, it was the professional thing to do, and he probably did it at the most oppurtune time available. He made a mistake, and he acknowledged it. You really can’t ask for more. On-air journalists will make bad judgements occasionally. Since mistakes are inevitable, it’s important to recognize them and correct them.

As Jane and others have pointed out, Ariana deserves much of the credit for this. Let’s hope this is the start of a trend.

Redshift @ 57

Here’s what I sent:

I wanted to express my appreciation for your apology to Ned Lamont. It was a classy move, and one that is all too rare in our current media environment.

I look forward to the day when politicians’ attempts to equate their opponents with our country’s enemies or with traitors are reported as shameful smears that have no place in our political discourse, rather than statements that are “out there” and must be covered neutrally by anyone who is not a partisan. Perhaps then we would see some real civility in politics.

Your letter’s so much better than the one I sent. Mine looked like Chimpy himself scribbled it on the last page of My Pet Goat with a brown crayon.

twolf1 55:

On another note, Blitzer is gonna talk about Allen’s comments. How much do u wanna bet viewers don’t get the full stroy?

I’m unable to watch but I’ll be really curious to know if they start parsing the meaning of the word makaka (or whatever) or if they also bring up the indisputable racism and ignorance of the sentence: WELCOME TO AMERICA, to a U.S. citizen.

Should be interesting. :(

It’s about time that someone in the media took responsibility for their “adlibs.”

I still won’t forgive CNN for Daryn Kagan and Miles O’Brien, though.

Meanwhile, with a hat tip to Juanita –

Buy your own voting machine parts on E-Bay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/GTS-II-Vot…..dZViewItem

Because this stuff is *so* secure, dontchaknow?

puppethead – yes, but any publicly-held corporation is going to have to answer to two groups: its customers and its shareholders.

For too long, media has been catering to advertising customers and not readers/consumers; they’ve believed themselves to be in business to deliver access to consumers via their products. Media has forgotten that readers/consumers are ultimately necessary to their survival, and advertisers will flee and follow readers/consumers. That’s our weapon, our tool – we take our readership elsewhere.

Publicly-held companies ultimately answer to shareholders; if they aren’t making a profit, then somebody’s going to pay. It’s all about the profits.

We have power if we understand this dynamic and use it. I don’t kid myself about why Roberts apologized; it’s about the money.

twolf1 @ 61

Your letter’s so much better than the one I sent. Mine looked like Chimpy himself scribbled it on the last page of My Pet Goat with a brown crayon.

Hee, hee! Well, it’s important that we cover all the angles, right?

I don’t know… one journalist apologizes and I feel like I should be planning a parade. Screw them. It will take a lot more apologigies. Although I think it is good to email them. There must be a pissed off advertiser or something.

Intolerant also means bigoted, prejudiced, narrow-minded, small-minded and fanatical…..

puppethead @ 48

I see very little evidence of any resurgence in journalistic professionalism, just a bunch of performers trying to make sure they can keep their place in the spotlight.

Yup, “where the wind blows” is where they want to be.

Cocktail weenies served from the left taste just as good as from the right.

And they just wanna be another munchkin with a seat at the table.

puppethead at 48: absolutely and point taken – hence my perpetual skepticism. I’ll give more credit when Matthews, for all his recent enthusiasm for Lamont, can let someone like Sy Hersh get more than a couple sentences in edgewise before interrupting, and also ask more of the right questions. I lost count of the number of times Sy got interrupted yesterday or forced to veer from the point he was making. So frustrating.

Jenny from the Blog @ 62

twolf1 55:

On another note, Blitzer is gonna talk about Allen’s comments. How much do u wanna bet viewers don’t get the full stroy?

I’m unable to watch but I’ll be really curious to know if they start parsing the meaning of the word makaka (or whatever) or if they also bring up the indisputable racism and ignorance of the sentence: WELCOME TO AMERICA, to a U.S. citizen.

Should be interesting. :(

Yeah, even if you leave out the slur, the whole “Welcome to America” business and the way he delivered it was quite redneck. He didn’t have to say ni**er, it was just implied.

Well, he could have pulled a George Allen and said, “Gee, I’m sorry if he was offended by my calling him the al Qaeda candidate. That was no way the point.”

So at least there’s that – a direct acceptance of responsibility and an apology.

Here on New England Cable News a reporter did a 10 minute sit down with Noam Chomsky.

-GSD

is it my imagination? I’ve got CNN playing quietly in the background – just loud enough so I can hear it… Dean came on for some clip, then Schumer – both sounded like they were standing in a tin can (different locations, so it wasn’t just bad feed from one place)… hard to understand what they were saying…

new trick? bad audio? good grief! am I gettin’ paranoid or what?

The Nefarious Leslie — here, check out this link and see what it tells you:

http://money.excite.com/jsp/ct…..hartdate=7

Be sure to click on the 10-year chart, too, and map the Dow-Jones and S&P 500 indexes with it.

Yeah. I think a change of direction is overdue; “stay the course” rarely works in business, either.

spay the coarse

I agree with all who see this as a small step toward a more honest press, and like to think that my sputtering-angry (but polite) phone message on Friday evening had something to do with it ….
Remember, the right has been working the refs, strategically and systematically, for over twenty years, and we’re just starting. We need to keep it up.

I have received a response from the Times-Dispatch reporter who says a followup Allen story is in the works for tomorrow’s paper. The reporter says

I have never heard the term macaca before, so didn’t know what it meant and wasn’t sure I wanted to rely on Webb campaign’s interpretation.

Looking forward to Leslie’s “Beard Room” story on Felix as well!

“Accountability: it’s a good thing.”
The new new, no?
Huge credit to the fever swamp – these small victories are the needed steps, birth pangs if you will, of an emerging democracy.

here’s a line from a Rolling Stone article on Allen’s remarks and the effects of youtube/blogs on news:

Unlike the professionals at CNN who play along and film the fakeness because it makes for pretty TV, the YouTubers out there are dedicated to exposing such artifice as an embarassment. And embarassing it is.

http://www.rollingstone.com/nationalaffairs/?p=426

spray the corpse

the republicans are the al qaeda candidates — it was bush who ordered tommy franks to let osama escape from tora bora — bush needs osama as much as osama needs bush

america & israel are two losers joined at the hip — israel has no future: just look at the dynamics of its demographics — america has thriving population dynamics but our frightened white folks are so hung up on immigrants that they’re turning an advantage into a conflict

ruh-roh… Santorum’s got troubles – seems his staff collected signatures for the Green party, but that some of ‘em were forged…by Santorum’s staff…

Muckraker

naughty! naughty!

Speaking of CNN, just heard one of their reporters describe the WH strategy in good cop/bad cop terms. Bush comes out with the policy comments, then Chee-knee goes out and politicizes ‘em, trashes Dems.

More and more the rotted, fetid layers of the onion that is this administration are being peeled away.

Or in Prairiespeak, even the media are starting to move the small stones. Christy’s descriptive sunshine of truth invading their dark souls.

We don’t have to become them to win, we just have to disinfect their spin.

He didn’t apologize actually. He said I must apoligize and messed up the set up.

Mission accomplished… he made the point and the cat was out of the bag. His “apology” did not cut it.

He should have been fired for that remark. That would show some sense of having abused the truth.

Accountability?

Here is journalist who is doing his job (via E&P)

he observes, “As security conditions continue to deteriorate in Iraq, many Iraqi politicians are challenging the optimistic forecasts of governments in Baghdad and Washington, with some worrying that the rosy views are preventing the creation of effective strategies against the escalating violence.

Wouldn’t that make Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Snow/Mehlman/Lieberman the “insurgent party”?

twolf1 @ 86

Blitzer’s teaser fro the allen story – “was it an innocent slip of the tongue or a deliberate slur”

Yup. This is why I refuse to watch.

Blitzer’s teaser fro the allen story – “was it an innocent slip of the tongue or a deliberate slur”

punaise @ 74

spay the coarse

Here I am taking a break (hah, like reading this stuff is relaxing?), the tightness in my chest grows with each post, and then BAM, out of nowhere comes Punaise, and true laughter!

Thanks so much!!!

From a column by Dick Polman in Philly Inquirer:

He was essentially contending that his good friend Joe Lieberman has put himself on the wrong side of the Bush equation, and that’s why he lost. But not even Dodd has asked Lieberman to stand down. That kind of thing used to happen in Connecticut – back in the era of strong Democratic bosses like John Bailey – but no longer.

As Democratic former gubernatorial candidate Bill Curry put it, “The people who could have gotten Joe to go are all dead.”

Anyone here interested in writing a Christmas Carol parody w/ Joe being visited by ghosts from elections past, present and future?

(I don’t have enough history to pull it off myself, but suspect there is someone here who does. I’d be willing to help, though.)

Both Balz and Robinson took questions on Georgie the Racist Allen today at wapo.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..00631.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..00834.html

I am personally gonna keep bringing this up so that it does not die away; between the Weakly Standard’s parody of Al Sharpton as the chauffer in “Driving Miss Daisy” and the filthy use of the word Macaca by Felix, the ugly truth of rethug racism has raised it’s demented head.

CNN and Wolfie just previewing Allen with the words SLIP or SLUR? on the screen.

ARGH!

twolf1 @ 86

Blitzer’s teaser fro the allen story – “was it an innocent slip of the tongue or a deliberate slur”

Nice. It’s hard to slip innocently twice in the same minute.

OH MY GOD! THERE IS AN UNKNOWN SUBSTANCE ON THE TRAIN TRACKS IN NY!

Runaway! Runaway! Chickenshit Nation Unite!

Flay the Horse!

-GSD

Splay the hoarse

display the course!

You know what I’m remembering? I believe it was over the Ben/RedState/WapooBlog flap which is what launched our Racist series. The guy at RedState tried to smear Jane and she was right there, in their comments, all over him relentlessly, fiercely, forcing him to recant or shut the fuck up. It was a beauty to behold.

THAT is precisely what we must continue to be doing. This apology non apology with Chuck Roberts is another chink in the armor and we must be fierce and relentless making them eat their despicable vitriol. Howl, bitch, DEMAND retractions ten fold, and that’s just to our leaders to voice it and defend us in public not moan behind closed doors, then go twenty times apeshit on the guilty MSM. Make them pray for “thank you for getting it right” letters. Accountablitiy, what a concept.

GSD @ 90

OH MY GOD! THERE IS AN UNKNOWN SUBSTANCE ON THE TRAIN TRACKS IN NY!

Runaway! Runaway! Chickenshit Nation Unite!

Flay the Horse!

-GSD

[channeling punaise]

Oh the Hume/Hannity!

[/channeling punaise]

:-)

If CNN actually plays the video of allen, the viewer/listerner won’t need much help. Allen explains himself fully if you watch. I predict they don’t play more than 10 seconds of the video.

Hillary Bin Laden.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2….._0815.html

-GSD

TalkWilde @ 87

punaise @ 74

spay the coarse

Thanks so much!!!

tee hee…

CNN – andrea koppel has the Allen story.

-they played the video…
- mentioning the point that’s it’s a racial slur in some countries.
-now interviewing the kid.

Dr. Bong @ 94

Oh the Hume/Hannity!

:-)

LOL

I can see where Sidarth sounds like Macaca. I have often confused the word “mohawk” with the word “macaca”.

Oh Georgie, you stepped in it.

-GSD

CNN – andrea koppel has the Allen story

-allen claimed he didn’t know Sidarth but Sidarth says they were introduced a week before.

-allen sent email statement that he is concerned his comments r being misread. was trying to say that his opponent hasn’t visited that area of VA

sway the source

stray thick oars

Allen is spinning himself into a pickle.

-GSD

replay the farce.

you say tomato, I say tomahto
I say mohawk, you say macaca

punaise @ 99

Dr. Bong @ 94

Oh the Hume/Hannity!

:-)

LOL

*blushing*

:-)

maybe allen really meant machaca

Pickles? Is she talking too?

CNN also omits the critical context, that George Felix Allen’s mother is of Tunisian/European descent. It’s this context that illuminate’s Felix’s claim of not knowing what the word means.

Contact for CNN SitRoom:
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?65

Laid a Turd.
Not a pun but it fits.

Next he’ll be saying he said muchacho…

Rayne @ 73

The Nefarious Leslie — here, check out this link and see what it tells you:

http://money.excite.com/jsp/ct…..hartdate=7

Be sure to click on the 10-year chart, too, and map the Dow-Jones and S&P 500 indexes with it.

Yeah. I think a change of direction is overdue; “stay the course” rarely works in business, either.

So, GE’s stock peaked in August of 2000, eh? But – but – Republicans are better for business!

There was an article that came out (I think) before the ‘04 election, in which Wall Street admitted that it loves GOP administrations, because it can make lots of moolah – but because the economy does better under Democrats, it needs them in power to clean up all the problems that the GOP causes. Shorter article: the GOP are the daytraders, and the Democrats are the blue chip stocks.

be nice if they’d mention Allen’s mother’s origin… I can see that word being tossed around the house…

Allen grew up about 30 miles from me here in So Cal in a pretty nice middle class neighborhood and at about the same time… I just can hardly imagine him driving around this area with a confederate flag… we were just a bunch of hippies, for the most part, at that time – it just would have been so seriously out of place…

he got his attitudes from somewhere – it certainly wasn’t from the area though…

Well let’s all fall down, CNN is actually doing a halfway decent job on the Allen Racist Fiasco. They showed the whole clip in two parts but the young man himself did great. “Completely offensive” of a U.S. Senator he says. “I introduced myself to him earlier in the week and he’s good with names…”

maracas

GSD @ 104

Allen is spinning himself into a pickle.

-GSD

so he’s not cool as a cuke? as ‘Merkun as a gherkin?

gherkin

1. A West Indian vine (Cucumis anguria) having prickly mature fruits that are sold as curiosities. The immature fruits are widely used for pickling.

Jeff Greenfield just said that he thinks the Bush administration wants Ned Lamont to win. Huh? Well, he says, they must know that their support for Joe makes it more likely that Connecticut voters will vote for Ned because Bush is so deeply unpopular in that state. Greenfield says its like Agnew’s efforts in support of Jim Buckley. Bushco, he theorizes, is looking ahead to 2008 and would rather have a more uniformly antiwar Democratic Party in the Senate. Nice try, Jeff, but I don’t think they want to give up a current beard for a future campaign they won’t be running in. And if Bush wants to bomb Iran before he leaves office, he will need that beard.

or Shakaka, the great white bat in Ace Ventura Pet Detective

“do the macacarena” fell on deaf ears yesterday

punaise @
120

“do the macacarena” fell on deaf ears yesterday

I saw it and got an LOL out of it while catching up on threads this AM.

OT: more brilliance from billmon:

The sonic results are equally strange: Bush keeps belting the stuff out with his usual gospel fervor, even though it has degenerated into almost total nonsense. At times it starts to sound like accidental poetry, like an old recording of Allen Ginsberg reciting Howl — “I saw the best minds of my generation, destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, etc.” Except Ginsberg had a better sense of meter and wasn’t a war criminal.

Allen’s in big trouble for a number of reasons. From a political standpoint, the racial slur isn’t really the worst of his problems. For one thing, he went after an Indian-American, which will cost him votes with conservative Indian-Americans (There are more than you’d think). Second, he’s implying that someone who was born in northern Virginia isn’t a “real” Virginian. For those of you who don’t know Virginia politics, this is a standard tactic–the northern tip of the state is far more liberal and Democratic than the rest of the state. Still, Allen was far more blatant than most politicians are in saying that northern Virginia isn’t the “real” Virginia. That’s also going to cost him a few votes. What’s more, the people that he’s knocking (Indian-Americans and northern Virginians) are unlikely to keep quiet, so you can expect a healthy amount of criticism–and lots of replays of Allen’s comments–in the near future. This story has legs.

Shez @ 115

Well let’s all fall down, CNN is actually doing a halfway decent job on the Allen Racist Fiasco. They showed the whole clip in two parts but the young man himself did great. “Completely offensive” of a U.S. Senator he says. “I introduced myself to him earlier in the week and he’s good with names…”

By showing the video in TWO parts, it’s unclear that Allen said the slur twice, which feeds the “innocent slip” meme.

angie @ 105

replay the farce.

good one, angie. how about “re-spell the farce, drop a ‘q’ – add an ‘n.’”

A drum of hydraulic fluid, eh?

I thought CNN did a halfway decent job on the Allen story, but they should have played yhe whole video.

Josh Marshall on the Kloset Klansman Senator

TPM Reader TC has a darker read on the Allen tape …

Josh:
As that blogger you linked yesterday demonstrated, “macaca” and its derivatives are well-known among white supremacists and neo-nazis. What about the thought that Allen used the epithet, knowing it would be reported, as a subliminal way of telling these people (and they’re out there in greater numbers in the south, unfortunately) that “I’m one of you”???

Let’s review that this guy used to have the Stars and Bars on his car in southern California 40 years ago, and was noted in his high school yearbook as being “pro-Confederate” with the things he wore. You weren’t around then, but I was, and I can tell you that any white person doing that was a racist and a white supremacist, identifying with the “southern resistance” to the civil rights movement.

This guy is not just dangerous like Bush is, he’s dangerous as “the next progression” of the Republican far right.

TC

Could be. Could be.

So he’s either a closet racist who let the truth slip. Or a very calculating crypto-racist.

Nice range of choices. And this guy’s a major GOP prez aspirant.

– Josh Marshall

Think Progress has a transcript of the Roberts/Lamont interview here:

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/…..candidate/

Mezmerized Media Mantra.

George Bush’s penis, apply directly to the forehead. George Bush’s penis, apply directly to the forehead. George Bush’s penis, apply directly to the forehead.

-GSD

punaise @ 120

“do the macacarena” fell on deaf ears yesterday

thanks for the re-run, missed its premiere, p!
707

twolf1 @ 121

I saw it and got an LOL out of it while catching up on threads this AM.

if I can touch just one person, save one life, then it will all have been worthwhile….

Redshift/Billmon

Except Ginsberg had a better sense of meter and wasn’t a war criminal.

whew! no sh*t!

George used to dip tobacco in law school. Perhaps he meant “chew tobacco” or is a fan of Chewbacca.

nah, his french speaking mommy taught him that word. He confused this young man of Indian descent with a “dirty arab” and not a black person (he has another real special word for those people).

punaise @ 129

twolf1 @ 121

I saw it and got an LOL out of it while catching up on threads this AM.

if I can touch just one person, save one life, then it will all have been worthwhile….

Well, mission accomplished then. Have some macacadamia nuts.

Between Allen’s gaffe and Biden’s 7-11 moment, we end up with a Slurpee

Frank Probst,

All of that was prefaced by “We are going to run a positive campaign”.

Hack.

-GSD

Chewbacaca

John Fund has taken some time off of testifying about beating his girlfriend to appear on Chris Matthews.

-GSD

I find the diary entry at DailyKos on George Allen’s White Power word very compelling. Not only is it clear that “macaca” is about as bad a racial slur as possible, it’s highly improbable Allen didn’t know what kind of slur it is. In fact, it appears to be in common usage in Virginia.

It’d be nice to see the news organizations do the kind of thorough fact-checking and synthesis people on blogs do. Or at the very least read more.

macacophony

mmmmm….macacadamia nuts

(there’s got to be a way to work some crazy Apple-loving professor into this: Mac academia nut)

Re: Karen M @ 88…

I thought I got EPU’d, so I just emailed the idea to CTBob.

puppethead – I’m guessing George’s mama taught him that word… that it was in common usage in his household.

there’s also macacaroons

puppethead @ 137

about as bad a racial slur as possible …. in common usage in Virginia.

now that is disturbing

Omigod — I like Miles O’Brien! Do I need to be re-educated?

The Nefarious Leslie — nah, I don’t like to think about progressives being blue chips; blue chips are the very heart and soul of rampant corporatism today.

Try this instead; reopen that link I furnished, insert GOOG AAPL in the Symbols search field at the upper left of the page. When the results come up, click on the ^DJI and the ^INX buttons at the bottom of the page under the chart, then select the 5 year chart. Can’t get a 10-year because GOOG has only been listed inside the last 5 years.

Note the difference.

We netroots are clearly not like the blue chip DJI or S&P500; these are the companies we use and rely upon, the companies whose innovations we support.

Adapt and win. HAH.

Teddy, yes I wish they would of played it in its entirety, I was thinking DON’T stop there CNN, but it was a brief stoppage to add commentary. The second half of the clip continued on clearly showing him saying it again with the devastating line Welcome To America. They then went into how Allen has received much criticism before over the racist things in his office. They showed graphics of a couple different dictionary terms spelled out. This is a start. They covered it, it hasn’t been totally dismissed like normal. They even mentioned YouTube and how not much can be missed these days. I’ll bet YouTube has quite a few new people googling them as we type. LOL

CNN – IDF says head commander of Hezbollah special forces was killed just before cease fire.

Macaw cawed, aim ya nuts

IDF is trying desperately to claim a shred of victory … but I’m sure W&crew won’t learn the lesson of their defeat.

immanentize @ 92

display the course!

Use the Force.

It will be ironic if Allen is toppled due to his fluency in French.

-GSD

GSD @ 150

It will be ironic if Allen is toppled due to his fluency in French.

-GSD

that would be effete to be proud of

Y’all want some freedom fries to go with the Beaujolais yere drinking from your cowboy boots?

parlez vous francais, le fils d’Henriette?

new thread

David-

Knock it off, please. That is they are and not who we are.

Kindly.

twolf1 @ 101

-allen sent email statement that he is concerned his comments r being misread. was trying to say that his opponent hasn’t visited that area of VA

Which would be yet another lie, since Webb’s extended family lives in SW Virginia, and he’s probably been there more than Allen has in any non-election year.

No doubt raised-in-California Allen’s Rovian tactic is to try to neutralize one of his own weaknesses by painting Webb as an out-of-state northerner, but I don’t think “who are you going to believe, me or your lyin’ eyes” is going to work in this case.

BTW Jane – NBK Director’s Cut hit the dump bin at WalMart for 5 bucks. I had no idea you were associated with that flick, and no doubt this is old news to most readers here.

Qu’est ce que c’est?

C’est un stylo!

angie @ 133

George used to dip tobacco in law school. Perhaps he meant “chew tobacco” or is a fan of Chewbacca.

Damn! She’s using the Chewbacca defense!

I just couldn’t resist, 157!

So he’s either a closet racist who let the truth slip. Or a very calculating crypto-racist.

Nice range of choices. And this guy’s a major GOP prez aspirant.

Odds are with the second of these, n’est ce pas? In a year or two we’ll begin hearing the “White Supremacists took over my party” defense from another ten percent of the 33.

twolf1 @
7

At a certain point, once this stuff is out there the damage is done and no amount of recanting can take it back.

I agree. The infraction gets way more press and air time than does an apology. I also think the goopers know this and it’s why they are always baselessly shooting their mouths off. I’m talkin’ to you Mr. DICK Cheney

No, Cheney shot someone else’s mouth off.
But he’s still a DICK.

(How could anyone on earth vote for Bush if they knew how Cheney snowed him into the vice-president choice? Dicks.)

LindaR @
27

I just sent an email via the cnn headline news page here , in case anyone wants it. I like the idea of corporate media types finding out the netroots can be very sweet when they just do their jobs!

Slight correction; that’s the confirmation page.
Here’s the form:
Contact CNN

Hey, was there ever any follow-up on the Susan Haigh “hacking” story? Did anyone ever contact her editor? If no one has, I’d be happy to.

Please, someone let mne know.

twolf1 @ 149

CNN – IDF says head commander of Hezbollah special forces was killed just before cease fire.

No no no no…it’s always the #2 or #3 guy.

Remand to the Ministry of Propaganda public affairs office for correction.

AND… if reporters figure out that they might have to actually apologize for slandering people and telling untruths, they just might learn to be more careful BEFORE they let loose.

Please stop praising Chuck Roberts, even faintly — save it for the real journalists at C&L, Huffington Post, Think Progress, Media Matters, and all those who passed along the story (and the evidence), causing the immense pushback that must have been generated for CNN to have forced out this statement. Roberts did not apologize, and even if he had issued a full and complete apology on CNN (which was carried on a regular basis for a week), his next paycheck should be for asking questions like, “want fries with that?”

He wasn’t ad-libbing if you go on what Arianna said. She searched his zinger: a recycled anti-Kerry slur. Seems he didn’t come clean.

Reminds me of George Allen’s attempt to sidestep his “makaka” remark. The strategy’s the same: make nice, then ask, “Who are you gonna believe, me or what I just said?”