If you live long enough and retain possession of your faculties, your memory bank achieves a sort of critical mass that makes it increasingly easy to see certain connections and relationships.
For instance:
Today, while reading the Washington Times' George Archibald's stunning exposé of the inner workings of the conservative movement's favorite newspaper (and of the utter nuttiness of Francis Coombs), my eye was caught by this passage therein:
The Washington Times was started in 1982 as a conservative alternative to The Washington Post and successor to the more conservative Washington Star, which was purchased and driven into the ground by owners and managers of Time Magazine.
Ah, yes, the Washington Star.
It had folded on August 7, 1981, three years after the Time takeover, but its financial problems had existed well before then. The paper was in such horrid shape, and it was such a reliably conservative voice, that in 1973 the apartheid-based DeKlerk junta running South Africa at the time actually tried to secretly buy it as the junta saw the conservative paper as being very friendly towards them (which considering that the Star's earliest years were spent defending slavery, would not be an unreasonable guess). During the 1950s's , the scuttlebutt was that the paper's management was anti-Semitic.
Charming little rag, eh?
Oh, and check this out, courtesy of Wikipedia's Washington Star entry:
Writers who worked at the Star in its last days included Nick Adde (Army Times),Michael Isikoff (Newsweek), Howard Kurtz (Washington Post), Fred Hiatt (Washington Post) Sheilah Kast (ABC News), Jane Mayer (The New Yorker), Chris Hanson (Columbia Journalism Review), Jeremiah O'Leary (Washington Times), Chuck Conconni (Washingtonian), Crispin Sartwell (Creators Syndicate), Maureen Dowd (New York Times), Jules Witcover (Baltimore Sun), Jack Germond (Baltimore Sun), Judy Bachrach (Vanity Fair), Lyle Denniston (Baltimore Sun), Fred Barnes (Weekly Standard), Kate Sylvester (NPR, NBC, Governing magazine) and Mary McGrory (Washington Post.)
Jane Mayer, Mary McGrory, Jules Witcover and Jack Germond are all very good reporters. But note how many of the persons named had gone on to either be blatant shills for the conservative movement (Fred Barnes, Jeremiah O'Leary, Fred Hiatt) or work to serve its interests (Michael Isikoff, Howard Kurtz, Maureen Dowd)? (And note that the Washington Star, conservative as it was, passed away before William Simon's scorched-earth attitude towards dealing with liberalism had taken full root among conservatives; the Moonie Times — which as Archibald notes above is the Star's spiritual heir — would never, ever hire McGrory, Mayer, Witcover or Germond if they were starting out today.)
Do remember this the next time you hear somebody refer to MoDo, Isikoff, and/or Kurtz as "liberal".
And that leads us to another discussion: The ideological underpinnings of our "fair and balanced" media. People like Howard Kurtz hate, hate, HATE it when you point out their histories (or their spouses). Why? Because it shows the reader where they're coming from. And it destroys the notion of their "objectivity."
Which leads me to another question: who among the "thinking class" raises questions for you, because of their history, because of their past writing, just because…and why. That whole "six degrees of Kevin Bacon" game has nothing on the incestuous Beltway crowd. Let's talk bias, and interconnected shennanigans, and whatever else you think ought to be addressed more often in the disclosures that should come with book jackets or op-ed pieces.
Related posts:
- FDL Book Salon Welcomes Dave Cullen: Columbine
- FDL Book Salon Welcomes Howard Dean, Howard Dean’s Prescription for Real Healthcare Reform
- FDL Book Salon Welcomes Jill Richardson, Recipe for America: Why Our Food System is Broken and What We Can Do to Fix It
- FDL Book Salon Welcomes Thom Hartmann, Threshold: The Crisis of Western Culture
- Harvest of Lame
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Fitz?
fitz
Ron Brownstein disclosed today on MTP that his wife works with the McCain Campaign.
PW, You do the most interesting posts. Calls for a chart of some sort.
Some kind of wingnut wiki, to keep track of them.
Do we have to behave ourselves on this one? I mean, PhoenixWoman is one of us right?
That’s why I always call him Mr. Sheri Anis on my FaBlog.
As with everything else in Beltwayland It’s AllAbout The Wife
William Simon IIRC was also the godfather of the leveraged buyout. A first shot in the assault on middle America.
Go see this at The Nation:
CPAC: The Unauthorized Documentary
Max Blumenthal
LINK
Great post PW, thanks.
IMHO Kurtz and Isikoff are a lot worse than MoDo, and far less talented.
I liked Mary McGrory. Does anyone think my admiration is misplaced? And if so why?
Helen Thomas!
Today seems like a good day to relax the usual Sunday structure. Let’s chat away, folks.
Max, you’ve certainly touched a few raw nerves by attending CPAC and asking questions about conservative ideas. The reason why conservatives get so mad at you is because they think the hypocrisy game is their’s alone to play. No one wants to be revealed as an ass-wipe, which of course Malikn, Tancredo, Coulter and Romney are. I love it that a person, who self identifies as LOONEYLEFTIES, is so completely unhinged by this.
Malkin to her credit, admits errors in her book “In defense of Internment” but is not willing to discuss them with you. She walks away (runs from you). Asking her to sign the photograph probably got that conversation off to a bad start. Her book seems radical and anti-american to me, that is, the idea of defending the internment of american citizens who are also Japanese Americans and Muslim Americans. But the best part was her defense and reason for not discussing her book with you: “I absolutley detest your initiative in trying to smeer my work without even reading it.”
So how did the college republicans feel about CPAC this year? “I was shocked to hear Republicans talk about immigrants in such ways” -Stephanie Ponce,College Republicans
Why is Grover Norquist not in jail? His tax exempt non-profit institution laundered money, for a percentage, that Jack Abramoff SOLICITED from his Indian Gambling clients (fraudulently, I would assert) in order to funnel it to Ralph Reed’s religious grassroots organization to fight the opening of competing Indian Casinso’s. Why is Grover Norquist not in jail?
Max Blumenthal (talk over): “Perhaps the only thing uniting the conservative movement, was its resentment of liberlism and anger at its perceived opponents.”
David Horowitz: “What’s wrong with you people, are you stupid?… or is your hatred for me such that you just disregard everything I say in order to attack me.”
Max Blumenthal:”What do you think it is?”
David Horowitz: “I think that’s what it is… I believe you – the left – is driven by envy, resentment, and a ferocious hatred of anybody on the other side. And that’s because it’s a religious movement that believes that the world can be redeemed, we can end world poverty, we can end racism , sexism and homophobia, if only those damn conservatives would die. And so every leftist has in his heart – is consumed with hate.”
Then Dinesh D’Souza gets himself wrapped around his own brain:
“This is liberal cultural imperialism. I mean its ironic the left is accusing of Bush of foreign policy imperialism in Iraq when the left has its own project of cultural imperialism.” – Dinesh D’Souza “The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11″
Shorter Dinesh: Conservatism is the natural social order. Don’t fuck with it. Military Imperialism is our business, not yours.
RBG @ 12
Yay! We’re allowed to play!
I’ve got a coffee mug that says ‘What time is recess’
And as for Arianna? Just about an icon.
THREE LOUD CHEERS for RBG and all the mods!
The only media (TV) person (besides Keith) that I ever had any affection for was Ashleigh Banfield. They got rid of her pronto.
I’m taking down some cemented on wallpaper and I’m procrastinating. Can you tell?
And in these Mod au Go-go times, it’s very important to remember who everybody’s boyfriend is as well.
Back in ‘92 at the first meeting of the National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association the peerlessly intrepid Michelangelo Signorile made a point of mentioning at a panel discussion the fact that the recently “outed” Pete Williams (Shooter’s under-secretary under Bush I) and his boyfriend had a summer share in the Pines with Patient Less Than Zero, and whoever he happened to be fucking that season. Well you can imagine how Sully Pooh took that one.
I’d be very much obliged if someone could enlighten us as to Ad Nags and who his steady (if any) might be.
Good question.
Did he turn State’s Evidence and help send his old pals to the slammer.
John Casper @
16
Hip hip HOORAY! {{{{{ Mods }}}}}} are our lifeguards in the Lake. They protect us from sharks, trolls and deposed West African royalty who want to make us business proposals. Thank you Jane for choosing this model for FDL. We appreciate the work it takes.
Mary McGory was a great journalist; and, I think PhoenixWoman certainly implies it with a couple of references. She was quite thorn in Nixon’s side during Watergate. I’m old enough to remember Watergate.
John Casper @ 16
RBG and the mods! Yay you!
PW: This is brilliant and sorely needed stuff that you are posting this weekend. I love it. I’ve long noticed that there were bizarre and convoluted biases in the mainstream media. I starting reading Bob Somerby’s DailyHowler about two years ago, and he documented that even the supposedly liberal papers, like NYT and WaPo, were playing some sick games. He also detailed how they do it, in detail. But I’ve always wondered about the big-picture history of the matter. Thanks again for filling some of that in.
Meanwhile, it’s great to see the development of a real alternative spring up on the Internet, where the cost of entry is sufficiently low that the wingnuts can’t corner the market.
Why isn’t Ralph Reed incarcerated? This man pilfered money from Natives and others under false pretenses.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 24
That’s a frogmarch I’d love to see.
And it would be kinda cute if Ralph and Grover were shackled together, kinda like a three-legged race!
Mitt Romney on CSPAN1 now, wonder if they will show Ann Coulter. CPAC thing from Friday.
Notice how Jack Abramoff has been kind of swept under the rug.
John Casper @ 16
Hip Hip! Ding!
Do remember this the next time you hear somebody refer to MoDo, Isikoff, and/or Kurtz as “liberal”.
oh i will.
i remember the wash. star from when i was a little kid delivering the evening capital in annapolis md. i was just a little kid, i even liked william safire at the time (who was carried in the capital) ’cause he used big words, even tho i was pretty sure i disagreed with about everything he said.
as i recall, the star was considered a pretty shitty paper.
David Ehrenstein @ 19
I wish I knew. I wonder if he’s having trouble raising funds these days. Who would fund his non-profit and what would they get in return? I imagine there is the certain stench of corruption in his wake, which makes him an unlikely recipient of others’ money. Still, it bothers me that he has not been rejected roundly in Washington circles.
It’s like Ralph Reed running for public office after his involvement in Ambramoff’s schemes. The balls on R.Reed. He obviously has no conscience or awareness that other people do. Thank goodness for the common sense of the people of Georgia.
The question remains, why is Grover Norquist not in jail?
I’m gonna take the minority view here and defend individual writers from the smear of being affiliated with a newspaper or media that you don’t like.
I talked with most of the people in the media room at court and found a lot of sympathy for the good guys. From some surprising sources.
So judge not the book by its cover, nor the reporter by his/her affiliation.
A) People need jobs.
B) People can take on work, then have their company change on them.
C) People can take jobs in a place that they hope to influence. Remaining good guys at the upper levels of the military anyone?
Can’t leave out Steve Roberts, his wife Cokie (Boggs) Roberts and Cokie’s ber-lobbyist brother Tommy Boggs.
True, but Cokie and Steve have been open about their relationship.
Just to be clear, the claim is that Isikoff, Kurtz and – most incredibly – Dowd work to serve the conservative movement’s interests in the sense that they deliberately seek to advance the conservative movement’s interests?
And, second, their past association with the Star shows this – so that they are distinctive from other seemingly similar MSM types who are often accused of serving the conservative movement’s interests despite being nominally known as liberal or neither here nor there?
How could Isikoff work so well with David Corn if he’s so far right?
jeffreyw @ 26
You can watch Coulter’s speech on CSPAN website. It starts at the 10 minute mark. She does a standup routine, poking fun, mocking. Her last joke is the faggot joke. I’d love to know who wrote it. It contained all the current right-wing memes. LINK
a wee drive-by
how does one go about pronouncing “Anis”?
[secret Shari]
John Casper @
16
Hip, Hip, HOORAY!Hip, Hip, HOORAY!
Hip, Hip, HOORAY!
Getting here late. BUT WITH GREAT NEWS!
Xanadu is coming to Broadway!!! (ok, not great news, but interesting, perhaps? Music by ELO’s Jeff Lynne can’t be ALL bad)
Corn is a tool. For quite some time now I’ve suspected he may be a CIA mole.
And I’m not alone in this.
Phoenix Woman,
Thanks for the background on the Washington star refugees. I love to learn something new every day, and I’d forgotten all about that paper. I’d get it or read it when I found it when in the Army in Virginia in the 60s. You’re right about their dismal civil rights record.
Is there a first-class book out there that gives a good history of American media from Watergate to the present? If not, that might be a good topic for Vaster Books in the near future.
Senator Clinton sure made it easy for this Democrat. When she recently said essentially, if you don’t agree with me and my vote on Iraq, cast your ballot for someone else.
David Ehrenstein @ 39
I suspect Corn of being a Kernal in the CIA.
Is there a John Dean (a man whom I very much admire) in the Bush administration?
I was curious to see if CSPAN would put in on, due to the flap it caused. I have no desire see see or hear her.
Hillary is after the ‘black vote’ today. Hey Hill, when you’re finished doing that why don’t you come on down here and capture the Okie Demo vote.
This DOES sound like a plan:
Come up with a cut-and-paste one-to-two paragraph biography of each of these and post it as a FYI comment every chance we can get.
A more specific plan would be to have one person or more persons devoted to each of these (and other) journalists and to keep at it over the long haul, posting “FYI – Did You Know That _______ Has The Following in Her/His Resume?: …”
Is that dirty politics? I don’t think so. Anyone who hides their politics when writing ANY journalistic articles is defrauding the readnig public. The very fact of writing for news organizations is, in itself, always always always a form of editorializing, whether labeled as such or not.
What is incuded or excluded is itself editorializing.
What adverbs and adjectives are used is in itself editorializing.
Phrasings and placement of information within an article are, in themselves, editorializing.
When the public is being editorialized at (bad grammar, I know), the public has a right to know the leanings of the writer. Period. If the news organization or the writer does not identify the leanings of the writer, then someone else has to take up the responsibility.
BTW, all of the above applies to Liberals and true Independents, too. Of course!
Oklahoma kiddo @ 45
That’s funny!
Oklahoma kiddo,
What is your opinion of Hillary Clinton?
JK,OK
Neither do I. It’s important information — part and parcel of The Public’s Right to Know.
Terry Olson @ 48
;0)
Campbell Brown of NBC is married to Dan Senor, spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority.
Jim VandeHei (formerly WaPo, now founder of The Politico) is married to someone who used to work for Tom Delay, iirc.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 45
By last count there were two of you.
Does anybody know if David Kurtz (TPM) is related to Howard?
Kathryn in MA @ 47
;0)
David Ehrenstein @ 6
Yup. Carville showed that by being neutralized as an effective force once Mary Matalin took advantage of his midlife crisis.
Hillary has to “go after” the black vote — that was in Bill’s pocket.
It’s really a question of style.
petedownunder @ 53
;0)
drove back, and done:
egr. @ 31:
then why does the output seem to confirm the origins, as opposed to the day-to-day? camoflage vs. foliage…
David Ehrenstein @ 39
Isikoff and Corn are united by one main thing that I can see: Namely, a dislike of the Clintons. Granted, there are good reasons to diss them. But Corn’s anti-Clinton bias is so strong that he has on at least one occasion invented a reason to diss Clinton AND Gore that just doesn’t hold up on further review.
TRex’s big new crush speaks out against La Coultress, in a video for HumanRightsCampaign.
Once upon a time, the Evening Star was the leading newspaper in Washington, the Post distinctly second-rank, in both circulation and prestige. The streetcars, buses and theatres in Washington were still segregated as late as 1961.
The Star didn’t change — television and suburbanization killed evening papers, and of course the zeitgeist changed, sweeping away the Bourbon Washington of the Star and replacing it with the New Frontier Washington of Ben Bradlee and the Post. It’s a familiar story all over America, but the fall of the Star and its grandee families truly merits a Ward Just novel to explain it.
The irony of the paper’s last act is that Time Inc. came to town determined to make over the Star as a right-wing alternative to the Post. Time’s management team was legendary in its ineptitude and arrogance, but even near the end the Star managed to uphold a certain reputation as a writer’s paper (not unlike the old New York Herald Tribune).
But it shouldn’t be surprising that people like Fred Hiatt, Fred Barnes, Maureen Dowd and Michael Isikoff are still fighting the battles of their youth against the allegedly monolithic liberal media embodied by the Washington Post of that day — and Donald Graham, Len Downie and Bob Kaiser no less are still trying to make sure that a real alternative to the Post never rises in Washington, so they keep trying to appeal to the Star’s old customers.
Pathetic how our country has allowed the Governing Elite of the post-war generation to mire the nation in refighting the politico-cultural battles of the post-war generation’s youth in the 1960s and 1970s, with disastrous results, both now and for our future.
Ed*ard Teller @ 40
Hmmmm. This sounds like a job for — eRiposte!
(just kidding) (barely)
Dislike of the Clintons by the Right is batshit crazy in that they imagine them to be the Essence of Liberalism, when Bill & Hill are anything but. The Clintons were strawmen figures utilized to attack Liberalism. Any true Liberal wouldn’t touch the Clintons with a ten-foot pole.
And when it comes to Rham Emmanuel, make that 12 feet.
David E. What is the significance of Shari Anis? Is she a porn star former or otherwise?
David Ehrenstein @ 64
The perception here is that the Clinton’s are somewhat less radical in their views than I. Perhaps a bit more rightward? ;0)
Phoenix Woman @
63
If anyone can fit the pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle, it’s he/she.
Sheri Anis a major Republican Operative. She can claim credit for putting Arnold the the governor’s chair.
Quite an accomplishment for a former rent-boy and the son of a Nazi.
I dislike the DLC, Harry Reid, Harold Ford, Hillary Clinton, Joe Lieberman and some others.
Is Kate Sylvester still currently working for NPR? The name ring a bell, though I could be thinking of Tweety’s nemesis (the real Tweety, not John Gibson or Chris Mathews).
Oh I have my two faves, both of which, coincidentally, work at the same network. NBC’s Campbell Brown Senor, weekend anchor of Today and wife of Dan Senor, he of the Iraqi CPA and mouthpiece of Bremer and now GOP shill.
And of course there’s the old favorite of us all, Andrea Mitchell Greenspan, wife of Alan, who needs no intro after his years of GOP financial cheerleading.
This defunct paper is a virus that has exploded and now the contaimination is all through out the host body, our free press, causing the sickness that is our media currently. Seriously, the corporations own the media and those poor lap poodles just do what they are told.
PhoenixWoman, you’ve enlightened me about the subrosa agendas of these prominent media flacks that twist facts like pretzels. Now I know why. Issakoff went after Bill Clinton with both barrels, but has been mute on the rape of the American Constitution by these cretons. I’m a Hillary fan, so we’ll see how that plays out with all the op-research by these ‘neutral” talking heads.Every knock Hillary gets in the media, her campaign fund goes up.
Phoenix Woman,
Just doesn’t hold up link doesn’t work…
Thanks for another great post.
@60, PW
PW – Dreyfuss wrote a thing that ties in here. It was during the time when Republican influence was being used to help Lieberman. It was obvious to anyone interested but kept on the low down by MSM. His point as I took it was that there is that there is a ruling class that transcends left/right, Dem/Rep, Business/government. They have made liberal as bad a word as socialist or communist. So when they say that Doud or somebody is liberal, it means that they have just gotten off the reservation. Huckelberry stated this morning that it is the “left” that wants to stop the war.
Richard Carlson, father of Tucker Carlson, sits on the Board of Trustees of the Libby Defense Trust as well as the Board of Trustees of WETA, the PBS station that produces the NewsHour and Washington Week.
I am a life long Democrat. Can someone, anyone, tell me what my party stands for?
Oklahoma kiddo @ 69
How do you feel about Dick Cheney?
David Ehrenstein @ 69
Well, her job was easy enough. The media hyped Schwarzenegger for free. The corporatocracy did too (Taco Bell had a “voting” contest ad campaign hyping Arnold Schwarz).
There was no mention in the MSM of the Bushco/Enron/Cheney secret energy task force accidental blackouts and price gouging and the the investigation that Bustamante promised that might recover the billion dollars stolen from Cullifornia energy customers that Schwarz promised to sweep under the rug when installed (and did).
Funny I didn’t know about Anis.
Terry Olson @ 79
Now you’ve done it. ;0)
Pathetic how our country has allowed the Governing Elite of the post-war generation to mire the nation in refighting the politico-cultural battles of the post-war generation’s youth in the 1960s and 1970s, with disastrous results, both now and for our future.
Yup, the generation that could have had health care, but decided on the Iraq war instead.
Listening to Senator Clinton speak today, I had a flashback to a conversation after the 2004 presidential election. Actually, it was more of a rant. Conyers had begun his unofficial hearings into the Ohio vote. I had noted that the only white Dem congressperson who had shown up was Jerry Nadler (NY). Don’t remember if Kucinich was publicly supportive…two brain cells are telling me he was, but I’m like Libby sometimes. My rant was that white Dem congressfolk couldn’t bother even a show of support for the Black Caucus, but they’d sure show up in black churches when they needed votes.
And there was Senator Clinton today. As predicted. And actually going on about voting shenanigans that disproportionately affected African-Americans and poor people. WTF? Those brain cells that think Kucinich might have been supportive, don’t recall that my own Senator uttered a peep when Conyers needed her. Or I’d have included her in the good-guy camp with Nadler when ranting to my friends. (Nadler’s their Rep, and one of the reasons I even brought it up was to make sure they knew he was being a stand-up guy.) Anybody remember this differently?
Celtic Music @ 83
Nope.
Just think, that top 1% that got all of the tax breaks were probably heavily invested in the “war” businesses. A 2-fer for them.
Terry Olson @
79
God willing and the creek don’t rise, we’ll be rid of Cheney and Bush within two years. But the DLC, Harry Reid, Harold Ford, Hillary Clinton, Joe Lieberman and those others are likely to have even more influence than they have today.
Sen. Tom Eagleton died today. He may be most known for being forced off the McGovern pres/vice pres. ticket when the media found out he had had electric shock therapy for depression, but he was also the chief author of the War Powers Act and was an early opponent of the Vietnam war.
He was influential in St. Louis and Missouri politics and continued to give his opinions up through the Iraq conflict. He will be missed.
St. Louis Post article
As a Senator Clinton may not have felt it her place to come to a hearing held by a Congressman.Not a question of being too grand, but just not well received. It is hard for non-DC people to understand that aspect of Capitol Hill.
But only Barbara Boxer was unwilling to certify the Presidential election until after the black caucus had a chance to talk about what happened in Ohio. Clinton would have been a big hero had she done that, same with Kerry.
Failure to understand that elections are about who chooses, not who wins.
wigwam @ 86
Personally, I think god wants us to get these criminals OUT of the White House NOW.
I don’t think we can wait two years. As a matter of fact, I don’t think we dare wait two years.
Celtic Music @ 84
Good thinking. Same thing happened in the 2000 stolen election. They won’t go near The Congressional Black Caucus, but they love to visit their hand-picked Black churches for Bush-style photo ops. You make a very disheartening point. You think Hillary ought to take up windsurfing? I do.
Alice @ 88
I was so disappointed that they were the only ones with the guts to challenge the results.
Elliott @ 90
I know my dog wants them to get out now.
Alice @ 88
I can understand that, but I think it’s a damned shame if our elected representatives think we vote for who we want to join a social clique. This is not an attitude conducive to getting the job done that needs to be done on the Hill, and I don’t believe that I would be able to do my job right, either, if I treated it this way.
hackworth @ 92
Mine, too. ;)
Alice @88: Senator Clinton could have had a number of reasons, including scheduling, not to attend a hearing. But as arguably the most mediagenic person in the Senate, and my Senator, I kept looking for her to say something in support of what Conyers was doing. Certainly didn’t expect her to heave flaming arrows at Ohio officials, but simply to acknowledge some unusual things had gone on, and that they warranted the kind of close look Conyers was giving them. Stand up for the Black Caucus when she wasn’t seeking votes.
As I recall, she opened her mouth a bit last year when in Ohio. Campaigning for president, no doubt.
Elliott @ 89
It’s not like there’s a lack of well documented “high crimes and misdemeanors.” In fact, the supply of ammunition for impeachment improves each day.
I’d like to see Bush charged with “criminal negligence” and/or “malfeasance in office.” But I prefer the former, simply because I like the sound of it: “CRIMINAL negligence!” The term seems so apt, so fitting for such a smug asshole.
“Nice” capitalist warmongers.
As opposed to those “nasty” capitalist warmongers known as Republicans.
jumping the thread–been reading up on past comments, missed all of friday cuz i went to columbus,,,,,,,,, still catching up
o/t
been waiting to see it somewhere, but it hasn’t appeared anywhere-
what does iirc mean?????????
and why doen’t anyone listen to harry shearer???????? the snark king.
he has fed me for a long time…………
dmac:
IIRC: “If I Recall Correctly”
EvilDrPuma @ 93
And remember that not one Senator would support the Black Caucus’s protest. Not one. And the protest died for the lack of even one supporting senator.
Hey! Lookie! There’s a luscious thread upstairs, full of intelligent, rugby-playin’, lawyerly, scholarly goodness!
More brain-power and good sense-makin’ than you can shake a stick at. And you know better’n to get brilliant legal minds mad with unscrupulous, traitorous conduct, don’t cha? Well, you’d better.
Caution: Ragin’ Heroines Ahead.
what does iirc mean?????????
“If I Recall Correctly”
Here in L.A. I listen to Harry on KCRW at 10 a.m.
Have you ever met Harry? He’s quite a guy.
wigwam @ 96
ooo, I like the sound of that, too!
Hackworth @90: That one cracked me up…hmmm, perhaps HRC should take up windsurfing. Seems like every candidate needs to be shown participating in some sport. Can’t think of anything else. Unless it’s clearing brush. Windsurfing seems more consistent with the MSM image of an elitist HRC, but brush-clearing’s a proven vote-getter.
EvilDrPuma @ 94
I don’t deny them the right to the finest meals in the best restaurants or first class travel or membership in the best Country Clubs, as long as they pay for it themselves and its not paid for by corporate lobbyists.
Our Press Corps and Congresspeople often behave like like high priced callgirls. We’ve got to get the lobbyists out of the peoples’ government.
Celtic Music @ 105
(my bold)
much to our detriment, I might add.
Ed*ard Teller,
believe this was our first book salon – probably has lots of good stuff wrt your question
Perlstein’s Before The Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus
Rick Perlstein Book
Book Salon – Discussion I
Book Discussion II
well I see I am again EPU’d but will try to catch you upstairs
Oklahoma kiddo @ 69
OKiddo, if I weren’t already married I’d propose.
I can understand that, but I think it’s a damned shame if our elected representatives think we vote for who we want to join a social clique. This is not an attitude conducive to getting the job done that needs to be done on the Hill, and I don’t believe that I would be able to do my job right, either, if I treated it this way.
The House and Senate are separate institutions. It would set people off if a Senator turned up at a House hearing. Breach of protocol. It really really really has nothing to do with being too grand.
Elliott @ 89
Then god may have to help us, because the Dems we elected to do this don’t seem too eager.
Elliott @ 94
My six cats are not really into politics, but they consider the Bush administration is prey.
I would promote Howard Kurtz to blatant shill. He has earned it.
dmac @ 98
dmac, definitions for many baffling acronyms may be found by googling the acronym you want defined and the word ‘acronym’.
Robert! So nice to see you! I thought this thread was dead — got marooned in London ON due to bad weather, *hours* without internet, it was *awful*.
Alice @ 110
I recall a recent (last couple of months) committee meeting on cspan with Rep Walter Jones sitting in with Senators discussing Iraq. Nobody looked uncomfortable that day.
HotFlash @ 115
HORRORS!
Kathryn in MA @ 117
(dissolving into giggles)
david @ 103
should have know you would know him, love your comments and your blog.
and thanks to all for the iirc meaning, really stumped me for a while.
and thanks hot flash, never occured to me to google acronym!!!!!
still learning, just got back into computers after a bread of 9 years, was into computers before anyone else, but had a break and now am illiterate.
Is there anyone with a brain on the planet who still believes the media is Liberal? Bush would never have gotten away with the half of it had the media whores stood up and did their jobs.
dmac @
120
google, it’s our long-term memory ;)
tbsa @ 121
I can’t see how it is possible, but over and over again I see people who can think, at least in other areas, OK, maybe only their jobs, buy these lines of BS. I think it is because they are taught to use their brains to manufacture things out of materials they are presented. The assumptions/raw materials are not their problem so it doesn’t occur to them to question them. If this is what is going on now in education it’s going to be an uphill fight.
But take heart. Young folks are constitutionally programmed to question their elders, so we got that working for us. ;)
OH, and as seen on TV right now (C-SPAN), Robert Kagan, of the neocon Kagans, is married to the Ambassador to NATO, Victoria Nuland.
not a media connection, but an uncomfortable one.
howie kurtz’s wife is a repug operative which makes him an unreliable source – it seems many of these media mouthpieces have spouses working in various places of the repugs organizations………….
oh – i forgot to mention – tweety matthews’ brother is a big man in Pa repug politics…………..
hotflash at 123
But take heart. Young folks are constitutionally programmed to question their elders, so we got that working for us. ;)
ahhhhhhhhh original thought, best expressed in the right moment, timing is everything, and when you you don’t have timing, impulse works. my sister teaches 9th grade english and is impulsive as heellll, teaching her students to think and express………best friend teaches high school art and teaches her students how to put thought into expression, all is not lost, they are learning. the students they handle are ‘getting’ it. i tell them i could not do what they do and they do it so well……….take heart.
More Kaganausea
From Yglesias
http://www.matthewyglesias.com/
Robert Kagan supports McCain, who’s competent and brave. Apparently unlike BushCo.
Guess the neo-cons are disillusioned with their man Bush now.
I just happened on this thread and haven’t read the comments; however, as somebody who was living here in DC from the early 1970s on, the Star actually did a much better job than the Post in covering local affairs, which interested me the most.
It was very painful when it folded. It was an afternoon paper, and how many of THOSE still exist? The Times showed its true colors with its very FIRST edition. On the Front Page was a review of the movie Inchon starring Lawrence Olivier as Douglas MacArthur. This movie had previously received absolutely LOUSY reviews from just about everybody and Olivier’s performance was RIDICULED almost universally.
You wouldn’t know any of that from that article. I don’t read that rag, PERIOD.
All of the links in the blockquote from Wikipedia are broken…
as for Lyle Denniston, he posts regularly at SCOTUSblog and Salon.
Good job Phoenix Woman,
Nice post. I grew up in the DC suburbs. I delivered the Post when it was still in competition with the Star. Nobody saw it as a good thing when the Star folded, even if it was more conservative. Most people don’t know how provincial DC really is. My dad used to call it the largest county seat in America. We all know what Broder said about Clinton. The same thing happened with Carter — another hick from the South. Dowd is a DC native, just like Pat Buchanan. Andrea Mitchell was on local TV before she hit the bigtime on NBC. Read Gore Vidal’s novels if you want to see what a small town it is. We forget how much this cuts across party and ideological lines. Of course, I left after Reagan — they loved him, but the conservatives really took over. It’s still all inside the Beltway.
In 1973 it would have been the Vorster junta. DeKlerk took power much later. Also, you know, he did peacefully transfer power by allowing a genuinely democratic election. Vorster, on the othr hand, was a fascist.