Digby discusses the media treatment of Democrats versus the Republicans, contrasting the treatment given to Newt Gingrich after the "Republican Revolution" versus what we have seen in the ten days since the mid-term elections. That's correct, it's been ten days, and already the Democrats are "in disarray" with "deep divisions" and Nancy Pelosi has been served a "stunning defeat." Do these media people even listen to themselves? It has been ten freaking days??!!?? MSNBC continues its "Dems in disarray" orgy this morning, and the screen shot that Digby has from Media Matters is not to be missed — Wolf Blitzer is carrying the heavy water again.
Digby finishes with the following thoughts, which I think are spot on and worth repeating, over and over.
There are no honeymoons for Democrats. Remember that. And "moral authority" is about haircuts and Hollywood, not torture and illegal wars. It is not merely a fight against the Republicans or a fight over politics and policy. It is a non-stop battle with the press to cover events with seriousness and responsiblity. For some reason, when Democrats are in power the press corps immediately goes from being merely shallow to insufferable, sophomoric assholes….
These are Clinton rules, folks. Get used to it.
And, as if on cue, TBogg provides us with a great example of the slant that Digby talks about:
COOK: Right. But I think what Malkin wants to do is not to tell people to act violently so much as—I do think she wants to sort of introduce a kind of thuggish sort of intimidating tone into the political debate, this kind of let’s not let them boss us around anymore. I think that’s sort of—she has got a very combative kind of truculent rhetorical pose.
So, let me see if I have this straight: Democrats have a number of options for their leadership of the House of Representatives, which they took over in a decisive election just ten days ago for the first time in twelve years, and that means they are a failure. But Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter incite violent fantasies which are then actually carried out from their deluded readership and that means that they have a "very combative kind of truculant rhetorical pose."
Just so we're clear, that is nuts.
Related posts:
- They Planted a Gay Whore in His News Conferences!
- Politico on Obama Presser: “Oh, Noes! The Best Reporter on a Subject Got Called on!”
- GRITtv Live: Jeremy Scahill and Glenn Greenwald – Who’s Afraid of the Independent Press?
- Hoyer “Uncertain About Supplemental’s Passage” — Pushed till Wednesday?
- Pew Poll: Americans Losing Patience with Congress
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Of course it is nuts. So how do we counter?
Twisted Martini @
2
With fruits? Or Nutcrackers?
The mainstream media has become a multinational corporate propganda machine. How will progressives respond? The corporate patrol of the media is a huge problem that needs to be addressed – our mainstream media needs to serve the public, not the corporations.
“patrol of the media”?? Control of the media. Sheesh, I need to lay off the psychotropic drugs before noon…
Albatross @ 5
either that or share them
Albatross @ 5
And all this time I thought it was Coleridge doing that stuff.
Happy Birthday, Howard Dean!
Subway Serenade @ 8
Let’s all give Howard a nice big scream. Good work, Dr. Dean.
Senator Patrick Leahy is calling for a criminal investigation into Laura Ingraham’s little Election Day stunt.
Good.
This media bullshit is annoying- the good news is- only 2 percent of americans are paying any attention to it. The vast majority of americans can NEVER name the speaker of the house- regardless of who it is…nor are they able to name the political party the speaker belongs to- let alone the whips (and chains) guys. This what the PGA calls “the silly season”- the major tournament is over and the players go around to warm weather courses and amuse themselves for cash.
Here’s Bad Scary Malkkkin right here for you:
Second Greatest Ironic Screenshot Ever
TRex @ 10
Eeeeeeexcellent.
Shez @ 12
For me, the caption really completes it.
As I mentioned in the previous thread, even as the media is already pronouncing Pelosi’s speakership to be “doomed” because of a typical leadership battle, they aren’t trying to spin the revival of the titanic Boehner-Blunt Majority Leader rivalry in the House GOP as evidence of the GOP House Caucus’s allegedly fragile state. And as TPM’s DK reminded us in the 11/16 TPM e-mail digest, Dick Armey’s 1998 reelection campaign for House Majority Leader took THREE BALLOTS to accomplish, yet nobody in the media was saying that the GOP was going to implode as a result.
go read Glenn, he nails it.
http://glenngreenwald.blogspot…..elosi.html
Pentagon asking for 127 billion additional dollars for Clusterfuck’s wars– glad they’re economizing.
Can they get hybrid tanks?
rwcole @
11
For the media as presently constituted, “the silly season” runs year-round. Anyone remember those “there is no off season” sports commercials? For these dolts, there is no on season when it comes to reporting actual news.
Regarding how we fight it… Continue to support the few prominent media figures who tell it like it is. Keith’s Countdown show is starting to get significant ratings in opposition to Bill Orally. Write MSNBC, tell them you love the show, and tell all your friends. Unless one of us has enough cash under the mattress to start our own news network, we’re gonna have to fight this one from the very bottom rungs on the ladder.
Twisted Martini @ 16
And go blue!
Peterr @
3
Watch the Daily Show. Loved his piece on Bush before and after the election.
My coffee is obviously not working yet this morning. The big story is that, for the first time in history, a woman has been elected Speaker of the House. By a unanimous vote of her party, no less. Defeat? Disarray? Huh?
Twisted Martini @ 16
Shorter Glenn: MSM = concern trolls.
Fly-by —
watch for how many of the Democratic pundits who actually do make it on the air have the description “former [fill in the blank] for Hillary [or Bill] Clinton.”
This has to change! The lazy press–to give ‘em the benefit of the doubt–reaches out for the familiar. Spotlight project? Siun, there’s work to be done, eh?
We need to press for pundits and spokesmen who represent the future, not the past. Education and advocacy…to do-list for pups?
And, by the way, the photo is a publicity still for “Mean Girls.” I found it appropriate for this particular post for some reason. *g*
Redd–Your picture selection continues to be incredible.
You know, I don’t feel sorry for Mark Foley, but I certainly feel for his father, who just died of cancer. It’s bad enough being eaten alive by cancer. This poor man had to do it while his son was dodging the media because of a sex scandal.
http://www.theledger.com/apps/…../611162580
Never underestimate the power of mockery supported by youtube clips supporting your claim.
Phoenix Woman 15 — on the other hand, we could take the concentration of news on Pelosi as an affirmation that the GOP has completely and utterly given up the ghost and is now an ex-party.
Which makes me think of the Monty Python gag…
It’s not pinin’!
It’s passed on! This party is no more! It has ceased to be!
It’s expired and gone to meet its maker!
It’s a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn’t nailed it to the perch it’d be pushing up the daisies!
It’s metabolic processes are now ‘istory!
It’s off the twig!
It’s kicked the bucket, it’s shuffled off its mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin’ choir invisible!!
THIS IS AN EX-party!!
Give this, what more could any news outlet say at this point about the GOP?
I hesitate to put this out, as it smacks of McCarthyism, but would it possible to put the names of the producers of these shows along with evidence of their political affiliation into the public domain. I am thinking of one example, the creep Vlasic who made no bones about going after Clinton. I forget network he was on. Digby is dead right, but the enemy is not some undefinable ‘network’, it is actual people, who should be forced to come out from behind the curtain. At least we know where Limbaugh and O’Reilly stand.
Here’s my Cliff Notes summary of my hypothesis for the current political-media-public relations situation in Washington, DC.
Republicans give good quotes and consistently confirm stories through multiple sources to the press.
Democrats give complicated quotes and can’t be confirmed through multiple sources to the press.
Republicans use PR firms to develop and distribute both policy and communications plans to influence groups and to the press.
Democrats use PR firms to distribute policy to the press.
Therefore:
PR firms are more sympathetic to the Republicans (they use more services), and provide better services for them to the press.
The press can more easily assimilate and distribute the Republican policies and communications because they’ve been involved in developing it from the start.
I’d love someone to tear my argument apart and prove me wrong.
Nancy Pelosi catapulted the propaganda, stealing the news cycle from W wandering aimlessly abroad. Americans paying minimal attention saw her on their teevees more than they would have had their been no fight. Additionally, for those paying little attention, she got her relatively diverse leadership team in front of cameras and on the nightly news.
Those paying closer attention saw Democrats settling their differences and making up sweetly afterwards. Finally, for those paying really close attention, Congresswoman Pelosi contrasted her version of personal loyalty (to Murtha) with W’s (to Rumsfeld, for example, or Brownie, or Meirs).
For her caucus, though, and this matters most under the Rotunda, she provided a message to take home to constituents nervous about her liberal SF values: “See, I voted for her but I disobeyed her on my very first vote!!”
Very little went wrong here, and I crack up every time I hear TradMed chatterati act like they know more about political hardball than Nancy Pelosi. Relax, all, enjoy the show, but continue to hold TradMed’s feet to the fire (especially about the mysogny and sexist rampant!).
One week until Thanksgiving — how will we give thanks for our many blessings this year without letting the food completely cool??!!
OT – KO’s (and others) letter with white powder sender has been released on $350,000 bail.
The way to “combat” this is to move on to the substantive agenda. Let the moron reporters try to pick their way through a five thousand page piece of legislation on health care reform. That’ll keep the mental midgets out of trouble for a while.
They like THESE issues cause ya don’t have to think- at all.
I missed thatTRex @ 10
I missed that. What is it about?
The big story wasn’t the GOP cage match between Lott and Lamar Alexander?
Election to leadership by the GOP of a pro-segregationist?
I almost never watch MSM, but got a kick out of seeing Anderson COoper last night, whose take on the Hoyer-Murtha challenge was that Murtha was so much more liberal than Hoyer and it was a conservative backlash in the Dem party that resulted in Hoyer winning out.
Ted–Bingo- yep that’s what it’s all about right now- Clusterfuck is lookin for coverage- ANY kind of coverage- that will prove to the american people that he’s not dead yet. Anything that takes the spotlight away from him is a win right now. Let him stew into the prune compote that he is.
scarecrow @ 34
I think she repeatedly told her listeners about the hotline that Bill Clinton was encouraging people to call to report voting rights infringements at the polling places. Her intent was apparently to get her listeners to flood the hotline with useless calls so that it could not function effectively.
scarecrow @ 34
She phone-zapped the Democrats’ complaint line.
Mary at 35 — bwahahaha! Murtha was cast as the “liberal”? Good lord, do these people do NO research?
Murtha Liberal? Someone’s gotta take away these guy’s pencils!!
scory — you win, you’ve nailed the argument.
But you’ve missed fleshing it out completely.
There is NO daylight between the largest funders of the RNC, the think tanks that develop policy, the PR firms that serve them, and the direct mail outfits at the end of the food chain.
Karl Rove, for example, now working in a position to make policy, was once a direct mail goober serving RNC interests as well as a former employee of a PR-lobbying firm.
Heritage Foundation, funded by Scaife, Coors, etc., hires industry folks to write position pieces to which Repug candidates and corporatist donors can point to justify their positions.
Heritage Foundation members also are on the board or own “distribution companies” that masquerade as news outlets or PR firms; see Brent Bozell in regards to Heritage, Media Research, CNSNews.com, CRC4PR.com.
They don’t use PR firms on the other side of the aisle.
THEY ARE PR FIRMS — without any real substance.
scarecrow @ 34
Ingraham called for her listeners to crank call the hotline the Democrats had set up for people to call to report any voting problems in an attempt to jam the phones. It was at least despicable. I really hope it was criminal as well.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 39
As Atrios would say, “No. This has been another edition of simple answers to simple questions.”
Wolf Blitzer is carrying the heavy water again.
My favorite line yesterday from
journalistentertainer Wolf Blitzer“Now some are saying the D in Democrat stands for defiant”
Pathetic, just make it up as you go along
Redd–Oops- we seem to be on the same track.
*xyz @ 37
I don’t have more details handy, but this is the broad outline. Isn’t she a lovely woman?
And Steve G weighs in as well…
Hell yeah!
The latest bit of arrogant Bush idiocy:
‘…”Laura and I were talking about how amazing it is that we’re here in Vietnam,” the president said.’
_____
You sure managed to avoid going there 35 years ago, you primping fucking coward.
And while the media talking heads fret about the Dems in disarry, I wonder what will get released to the media at 1:30 PM PT/4:30 PM ET. It’s “Take Out The Trash” Friday!
So what will it be today? More appointments like the new HHS deputy assistant secretary for population affairs:
But this was yesterday’s news (on today’s WaPo page A1). What’s getting dumped in the trash today?
TRex @
10
See also this this post from Johnathan Singer at MyDD. A bit more about the hearing into voting abuses in committee yesterday.
A taste of what the scum who pull this shit can expect with some oversight instead of overlook.
Some americans aren’t gonna be happy ta hear that Clusterfuck wants to spend another 127 billion dollars on his wars.
For a person making the current minimum wage ($5 an hour or so) that sounds like a LOT of money.
Suzanne @ 32
Anyone else wondering if the bail money came from online fund-raising from Malkin, Reynolds, et. al.?
BobbyG @ 48
I don’t know how to say that in Vietnamese, but I’ll bet you can hear it in the background.
GW Clusterfuck burns through over a billion dollars a year to fund his wars.
He doesn’t PAY for em- he CHARGES em.
GW Clusterfuck puts the war “on the card”- just as he puts tax cuts for the richest americans “on the card”.
Take away his fuckin card!
The fuckin president is BORROWING money and giving it to the RICH…Fuckwad!!
Thanks all. And we just had a criminal investigation of a similar tactic used in 2004 by the Repubs to suppress GOTV in New England. I think the other side cheats.
Frank Probst @
43
Yes, they do NO research.
EvilDrPuma @ 46
Lynne Cheney would say, “she is not a good man.”
Overheard in Hanoi…”George, me so hooorny, me love you long time”
The vietnamese are too polite to show their true reaction- so most turn their heads and cover their mouths before laughing out loud at GW Clusterfuck.
Hey FirePups:
Howard Dean’s brother Jim has posted a DFA birthday card for Howard for folks to sign.
Hope you signed Renee’s DailyKos Kard for Howard as well! Send a message to our good doctor and to Mr. Matlin, too, by signing the cards!
Mary @ 35
In their simple-minded world, Pelosi is a liberal, she supports Murtha, therefore Murtha is a liberal.
Twisted Martini @ 47
Bold is mine. Just think of the Joke Line competition at FDL, just with YouTube. (FDL popcorn image popping into my head).
Tony @ 52
The last two sentences of the report linked above are worth a chuckle:
That’s it? That’s the defense? “Okay, he made threats against the lives of several individuals, but since he doesn’t have any jaywalking citations, let’s just let it slide this time?”
Sheesh.
I want several of Rayne’s Carville sock puppets to give to the lump-o-coal deservers on my Xmas list!!
Goopers get boner for house minority leader.
rwcole @ 65
It’s probably the only way some of those guys can get a boner.
Time to call in George Lakoff on framing. Here is an example of how he reframes the Market Force as Force of Nature issue.
EvilDrPuma @
9
Some really nice backstory on the actual nuts and bolts of Dr Dean’s 50 state strategy by Sara over at The Next Hurrah.
I’m wonk enough to find these process type stories interesting. The cams and gears behind all the slogans.
Rayne @ 41
Rayne — the Rethuglicans learned early (say, in 1981) that you don’t do policy or politics without testing it first. That’s the legacy of Ronald Reagan. The
incestuous orgyrelationships that you accurately describe have been in place for a long time, and in the last few years, have spilled into formerly moderate think tanks (the Brookings Institute and the Council on Foreign Relations).Podesta and the DLC folks were trying to replicate this with the Center for American Progress. But I don’t think that solves the problem.
It was kind of amazing that after Keith O and David Schuster had debunked the whole “Dems in Disarray” thing on Countdown that the very next show on MSNBC was Noron’s Kewl Kids Slumber Party.
By the way, Noron, that half-laugh, half-snort thing you do is really kinda gross. Eeewww!
OT
Tasered kid has lawyer and is planning federal civil rights suit charging excessive force.
Suzanne @ 71
Good.
Here is my half-assed attempt at reframing. Others can do much better, I am sure.
Initial frame: “democrats are in disarray”
New frame: “Democrats are sorting through and refining their leadership structure in order to make a stronger party”
Driving on the Jersey Turnpike this AM listening to diane rheim I got an example of fair and balanced NPR style. rheim’s panel for her Friday national round up consisted of Eugene Robinson of Pravda on Potomac, Linda Werthiemer(sp?) of Nice Polite Republicans and rich lowery editor of National review and author of “The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy.”
Now that’s making sure every angle is covered: the center, center right and far right.
EvilDrPuma @ 72
There should be a criminal inquiry.
From the AP article:
UCLA’s interim chancellor, Norman Abrams, urged the public to withhold judgment while the campus police department investigates.
Student activists were planning a midday rally Friday to protest the incident, and several civil rights organizations including Amnesty International and the Council on American-Islamic Relations were calling for an independent review.
Maybe this trivia attack is not such a bad thing.
Suppose the Democrats have some scores to settle with the mainstream media, which has demanded extremely large amounts of ad money from them while denying them serious news coverage. Now suppose the mainstream media (including Mitt Romney’s new personal radio network?) don’t like the idea of a unified, focused Democratic Congress.
Now we rediscover that that the media’s own pundits and analysts are only too willing behave as mascots, cranks, and jesters in order to juice up the entertainment value of their product while avoiding the loneliness, patience, and drudgery of real reporting and analysis.
Suppose they analyze wrong, serving the psychological (or is it psychotic) needs of their employers and ensuring their continued employment. Suppose they mistake transparent, democratic decision-making for disarray? Suppose they fail to recognize a determined focus on issues, including the role of the media in distorting democratic processes?
For the time being, until the Democrats (and anyone else who wants to get on the fair, honest, equitable, democratic side of things) are sitting as the legislative majority, we might all be better off if the media behemoths distract themselves while they try to distract the people.
If the Democrats are cooking up ideas for mitigating the mainstream media’s anti-democratic tendencies, it might be better to have the media sitting still and looking in the wrong direction when the hammer comes down.
Chimpy may have some bad juju in SE Asia.
No comments from me on the butchering of his pet goat. Or the inexplicable brocolli voodoo.
dems are fighting- arguing for their point of view- then they’re voting- making a decision and moving on. In other words- the dems are committing democracy.
kristinejoy @ 77
The Bushes have a well known aversion to brocolli.
Dammit. Now I’ve got “Choppin’ Brocolli” going through my head.
OT Yesterday on November 16, 2006, the Senate passed HR 5682 a bill to exempt from certain requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 a proposed nuclear agreement for cooperation with India. The vote was 85-12 with 3 not voting. Since the Senate passed the House version, this is now a done deal.
Those who voted against:
Akaka (D-HI), Bingaman (D-NM), Boxer (D-CA), Byrd (D-WV), Conrad (D-ND), Dayton (D-MN), Dorgan (D-ND), Feingold (D-WI), Harkin (D-IA), Johnson (D-SD), Kennedy (D-MA), Leahy (D-VT)
Not Voting: Inhofe (R-OK), Jeffords (I-VT), Thomas (R-WY)
The schizophrenic nature of the bill can be seen in this summary excerpt:
Supporters of the bill say that it will be good for business and promote better ties both diplomatic and economic between the US and India. India is a politically mature state with an increasingly significant economy and so we should make an exception in its
case.
Opponents say it fundamentally undercuts the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, this at a time when we are confronting both Iran and North Korea over nuclear issues. It’s a double standard. They know it. We know it.
The core of the proliferation question is this: By supplying India with up-to-date nuclear technology and expanding its nuclear industry, those facilities which India developed previously and was constrained to use for civilian purposes can now be devoted to its nuclear weapons program.
The result is an NPT gutted for the sake of economic expediency. This is called pragmatism. Perhaps Bush or one of those 85 pragmatic Senators can explain to Ahmadinejad or Kim Jung-Il why their nuclear industries and weapons programs should be treated differently. At the least, this is a matter that should have been debated much more fully than it was.
Dems stand accused by the Wasington punditry of committing democracy.
Pat_AlexVA @ 75
I agree, but I expect the wheels to turn more slowly for that. Tabatabainejad can sue any time he pleases, and should. The UCLA police need to get slapped hard for this in every possible way.
sofistic @ 67
Emphasis mine. Wow. Absolutely correct. In my other life, I deal with electricity “markets,” and what happens in those markets is very much defined by a set of administrative rules that affect underlying costs of keeping the lights on and, more important, define the “prices” we pay at wholesale and retail levels. There is nothing “natural” about this; it’s all designed by people, some smart, some not so smart; some self-interested, others trying to serve the public interest. Ironically, there is far more “regulation” behind the scenes to refine the “pricing rules” in electricity markets than there ever was in fully “regulated” systems. That doesn’t mean things are worse; they’re just more complicated.
The resulting rules are neither neutral nor necessarily in the public interest. Some regions are better than others. It is a continuing day-to-day battle to get the rules written/implemented in ways that actually make sense and serve the public interest, and there is no end to the mischief from the self-interested.
Suzanne @ 76
“Please wait while the fox investigates the recent unfortunate henhouse incident.”
TeddySanFran @ 31
“Cool”? Darlin’, mine’s gonna have frost bite!
——————————————–
O/t – this letter from Jerry Meek to Carville on 11-16:
“As the Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, I cannot disagree more strongly with your recent comments regarding Governor Dean. For the past 20 months, we have benefited from having regional field directors across this state, organizing, building, and implementing ground plans.The results here in North Carolina were tremendous. While your focus seems to be exclusively upon congressional and senatorial races, I’m concerned about all of the races– including down ballot races.Because of the work of these regional field directors, we elected Sheriffs and county commissioners in some of the reddest of counties.We increased our control of the state house by 5 seats (now 68-52) and of the state senate by 2 seats (now 31-19). We elected Heath Shuler to Congress, with one currently undecided potential pickup seat. These down ballot races are particularly important to future electoral successes.
There is no institution– other than the DNC– that is charged with the task of building the Party in the long-term (rather than focusing exclusively on the current election).Howard Dean understands, correctly, that we need to have an infrastructure in place that creates continuity between elections, allowing for the Party’s expansion.
Like every State Chair I know, he has my full support.I can assure you that any attempt to remove Gov. Dean would be met with fierce opposition.”
Just left message on Meek’s voice mail thanking him; believe somewhere along the line I also asked, “Can no one shut this freaking idiot (ie. Carville) up? *g*
Bo Schembechler dies at 77. Godspeed Bo.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/…..id=2665857
rwcole @ 82
Yup. That’s exactly right.
Subway Serenade @
8
Driftglass has, in his own way, honored Dr Dean. Next bout on the card: Dean v. Carville. Bring him on!
Suzanne @ 76
It’s all on tape, isn’t it? Do we really need to wait for an investigation? Why can’t we just watch the tape and judge for ourselves?
Slightly off-topic: Is there an over/under on when Rush Limbaugh will be doing his impression of a taser victim?
OT
Interesting stuff about Fitz dropping the ball on the 9.11 plot:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..l#comments
kristinejoy @ 78
This article is so full of offensive stereotypes that it may as well have come straight out of the Weekly World News. It’s a complete mischaracterization; “voodoo” (Voudoun) is a syncretic religion derived from West African and Roman Catholic beliefs and practiced in some parts of the Caribbean. It is not “black magic,” although some practices are likely to be disturbing or offensive to Euro-Americans; it has nothing to do with “the devil,” and it sure as hell has nothing to do with anything this Pamungkas guy, who sounds to me like an attention seeker, was doing with a goat.
Maybe the AP should try its hand at accurately reporting the selection of Democratic House officers and leave this kind of cheapass exploitation story to the tabloids.
Frank Probst @ 90
Only if its method acting.
The business conglomerates who own the majority of these media outlets are pissed that they wil be losing lucrative tax breaks in the near future and demand that these useless, shallow talking heads (Noron et al)bash, and ridicule the Dems at every opportunity. The rethuglicans were successful at putting the fear of God into these “journalists” by threatening to hang the banner of being “LIBERAL” around their necks, why don’t the dems do the same w/ the threat of assinging them the label of WHORES or FASCISTS??
Don’t ask ’cause everybody knows the story.
The GOP was now a vacant Lott.
America is basking in the glory,
‘Cause Dean kicked butt…
Christy Hardin Smith @
24
Yes, everyone in the press just longs to be a member of the Plastics.
sofistic @ 73
Too long.
Democrats are being democratic.
DefJef at 91 — that guy has been shopping that story around forever. Some time, ask LHP about it — and see what sort of background you get from someone who was actually there at the time, instead of just being a 1-year summer associate interning in the office.
oops, I realized yet another Pelosi strategy.
At the very top of her “favor bank” list, since she stole the TradMed spotlight with her poor judgment and divisive fight, is Trent Lott and the entire GOP Senate caucus. TradMed barely had enough time for the homespun return of one cast out into the political wilderness, and hardly re-ran the Strom Thurmond party speech, in that they had a “Dems in Disarray” story to get right onto!
Trent (sotto voce): Thanks, Congresswoman.
Nancy (screeching): You’re welcome, Senator. I’ll just mark this down in the Favor Bank, mmmmkay?
p.s. in the it’s all about the framing dept, yesterday’s news:
there are no more hungry people in America.
They are nutritionally challenged…or whatever the bullshit phrase Frank Luntz cooked up.
Media Matters does good work, but its time for the Horse to come out of retirement. These fools need to ridiculed big time. Truth has no effect on them. The Horse could do the job on them big time.
Christy are you saying that the “story” is without merit?
What do you mean shopping the story?
If you had a “story” which you wanted to get aired… which you believed was important to be aired… what would you do? I am not saying he is corract… I have not read the book… but why dismiss it out of hand? Have you read it?
Who is LHP?
OT:
Lindsay is emo.
scarecrow 84 — I prefer something even simpler in terms of framing:
A market is a conversation.*
We have rules in polite, civil conversation that have been agreed to over the ages, yes?
[* edit: I should have given an attribution, especially since I have the highest regard for the contributors and I dig the title of the source: The Cluetrain Manifesto.]
Prairie Sunshine @ 99
“low food security” means you don’t know where your next meal’s coming from.
“very low food security” means you know there won’t be a next meal.
from the people (USDA) who wanted ketchup classified as a school lunch program vegetable….
MSM? screw’em. Why do you think I am reading here and not turning on my TV? Let their revenue continue to wane. And besides, a little “disarray” would do this stupid govmint some good after a decade of leftbashers in lockstep. If the cranioannal pundits have gotten so used to the central control of message discipline that characterized Rove-engineered republican publicity that they take absense of monocultured politics for chaos, let’em. We, after all do NOT have a “no news organization left behind” promise.
Off Topic
For Twisted Martini and other Football fans
Bo Schembeckler RIP.
Sh*t. I am SO damned slow sometimes. In this case, about two years slow.
FirePups, you really, REALLY need to read the Cluetrain Manifesto I linked above.
Scroll down the page once you get to the site and read the 95 Theses.
Tell me this isn’t the manifesto we are declaring to both the MSM and to the entrenched old-school powergods of the Democratic Party.
It’ll take a while for reporters on the Capital Hill beat to get used to the way congress is supposed to work- give and take- wild arguments- everyone being heard-etc.
They think that the way congress is supposed ta work is ta sit quietly on yer hands waitin fer the White House ta send somethin ta rubber stamp.
Boy do they have a few surprises in store
!
DefJef at 102 — I’m saying, this guy has been writing articles about this for months now — and no one has been able to substantiate anything he’s saying about it. LHP = looseheadprop, who posts here pretty frequently. And yes, I’m saying if no other person has been able to substantiate any of this person’s theories and, if after talking with people who were working with Fitzgerald at the time, what I’m hearing is that the entire theory that this person has been shopping around is crap…then I’m highly skeptical.
Ricky Santorum says he won’t run for president. Doesn’t seem ta know just what he’s gonna do. Thinkin bout buyin a dog.
New digs upstairs, gang!!
Christy…
Gotcha… thanks
How’se peanut?
TeddySanFran @ 105
And the same administration that redefined assembling chalupas at Taco Bell as a manufacturing job.
DefJef;
LHP is looseheaddrop, a lawyer who was at some point I believe in the Justice Department.
I think a reality check is in order. A single prosecutor in New York who just happens to be named Fitzgerald and who just happens to be currently pursuing a case against Scooter Libby is responsible for 911? Not say, Bush, Rice, Cheney, the FBI, the Pentagon, the CIA, and the rest of the federal government. What’s wrong with this picture? What doesn’t pass the smell test here?
bobobobo @ 77
And it can’t come down soon enough. There needs to be some action on fairness & accuracy in reporting if the Dems truly want Democracy to survive this century. If it’s infotainment it should be clearly stated as such. Keep the news accurate and severly punish anyone that tries to pass off hearsay and unidentified sources as fact (SOME people say… or YOU say???!) I could go on but we all know the media system is broken.
Well done Hugh.
I was getting ready to unload.
OK, ladies. have at it:
Hugh @ 115 I am not saying I buy the story… I am only posting a link to a piece on HuffPo.
I will say that I do think the CIA and the FBI knew more than they are letting on about 9.11. I say this because I believe that they have people infiltrated all over the place and they may no want to blow some covers… Who really knows how these spook ops work? I assume that they not only formed AQ but have plants in there. I sure hope they do…
sofistic @
73
First thing in reframing, break the current frame. Then create the new one.
Frame: Democrats are in disarray.
Break it: No they aren’t. That’s a media artifact.
New Frame: The Democrats won, and now they are organizing the leadership. Part of the process.
Frame: This is a disaster for Nancy Pelosi.
Break it: No it’s not. This consolidates her effectiveness.
New Frame: Democrats who need a vote against the leader have it now. They are inoculated against voting for her in the future.
rwcole @ 111
Poor Dog.
Ask the media why they aren’t talking more about the massive coverup in John Sweeney (R-NY) and his domestic abuse case.
Being from Oregon, the home of Tonya Harding, when I think of Nancy Pelosi I can’t help but think of Nancy Kerrigan. Remember that incident? Kerrigan starts doing well in skating competitions, threatening Harding’s ambitions. What does Harding do – work harder to try and outskate her? Heck no. She has her boyfriend and his buddy try to break her legs. Other Tonya Harding moments include blaming her skate laces when she does poorly in a competition, and flinging hubcaps at her boyfriend during an argument. Honestly, when I want to crystallize in my head an image of how the GOP thinks and acts, I keep seeing the petulant, pouty, primadonna Tonya Harding.
Amen, sister!
And Nancy P. in powder blue Armani…the gall.
It harkens back to the Sweeps Series newsroom mentality: IF IT BLEEDS, IT LEADS.
There is really nothing newsworthy in Trent Lott being elected to a Republican Senate leadership post. They are all bigots in the Republican Party.
‘Nuff Said!
sofistic @ 73
Better Frame: Actually Democrats are strong right now. Only a strong party can hold open leadership contest like this. When the House Republicans were ascendant in 94 they had strong willed fights followed by sensible making up. Now the roles are reversed. The Democrats are strong and sensible and the Republicans are in silent disarray, just look at the vote for Lott as minority whip 24-25.
What do you think?
This is just a test.