I don’t see the relationship…the Craig story didn’t break on the same day the Gonzo resignation was announced. It happened AFTERWARDS…and if the WH wanted to bury the Gonzo resignation story they would have timed it AFTER the Craig story.

And if the WH had control of the Craig story…why release it at all. Why sacrifice a loyalist…especially with some important votes coming up on the Senate floor. And while it is true the arrest occurred in mid June the plea came in August. The officer involved said he wasn’t in the habit of releasing his arrests to the media. So likely it was someone somewhere else along the chain that did so.

In regards to the Clement issue…Gonzo remains Attorney General until Constitution Day…Sept. 18th. There was lots of commentary about that irony here on FDL. Guess you missed it. Clement remains Solicitor General until then. He cannot begin serving as Atty General until Gonzo is OUT. It looks as if Leahy is going to continue to pursue the issue of Gonzo’s perjury, and may even call him back for even further testimony. And there was some discussion on this site as to whether Schumer might squelch further investigation on the firing of the USAG’s in exchange for getting a AG nominee that is “responsible and decent”.

Realize this is very late now, but oh well…

Seems to me you would want to release the Shiny Object after the event you want to squelch. That way, Gonzo’s gone and a day or two later, few are talking about it and focused on details of bathroom sex antics, which is exactly what has and is currently happening.

You’re right, I haven’t been able to keep plugged into the New Media recently, and have just been catching radio/TV snippets while travelling along with brief visits to the Blogosphere, and have not seen one iota of info about Gonzo, and my lack of knowledge of those details is proving my point about falling into the trap. The AG scandal should be front and center. They’ve committed substantially more damaging crimes than Nixon’s henchmen could ever dream of. But dayam, I sure know what to look for next time I’m in a public restroom.

Just like the Iraq build up, and now the Iran build up, many of us are taking our eyes off the ball too much of the time. Of course, maybe I should look more into the arrest history of one undercover cop in Minneapolis.

You are an angel.

The Craig issue can be used to show the hypocrisy of the Senate Republicans in vilifying Craig while utterly giving Vitter a “pass”.

I agree with this entirely. Sorry not to address your other points, but I am just highlighting this part because it is exactly what I have been saying/ thinking of late.

Let us have a minute of silence for Di.

And then turn off the TV.

http://mgpaquin.wordpress.com/

Coffee and tea are ready, and the biscuits are out of the oven. I’m exhausted because I was up WAY past my bedtime watching tennis last night. Have a great Friday.

Larry Craig was busted in June. This story “broke” on the same day Abu Gone-zalez goes buh-bye?!? Can there be a more obvious bright shiny object?

Once again, their technique has succeeded in substantially shaping the public discourse, even within Liberal circles. We’ve gotta stop falling into these traps.

The Craig saga is worth some coverage, but how much news time in general over the last few days do you think has been spent on Craig as opposed to Gonezo?

What’s Clement been up to so far? Has Abu already landed on the wingnut welfare rolls? What exactly happened there anyway?

These are all questions I wish I knew the answers to, but instead I now know about techniques closeted homosexuals use in bathrooms to get sex. And I’m very well versed in Larry Craig history as well.

The Gonzo fiasco is off the front pages and not top of mind. Mission accomplished for them. Sure didn’t take long. It’s sort of like how we can all talk in detail about Iraqi Sunnis, Shia, and Kurds, even though none of them had anything to do with 9/11, and bin Forgotten is apparanently running around Pakistan.

I’m thinking in a very broad, national sense here, and realize most people here understand this, but these smoke and mirror techniques influence even the more informed people out there to a certain extent. This is why I feel this issue is important, and that we must fight against the tendency to fixate on the shiny objects they float in front of us.

I don’t see the relationship…the Craig story didn’t break on the same day the Gonzo resignation was announced. It happened AFTERWARDS…and if the WH wanted to bury the Gonzo resignation story they would have timed it AFTER the Craig story.

And if the WH had control of the Craig story…why release it at all. Why sacrifice a loyalist…especially with some important votes coming up on the Senate floor. And while it is true the arrest occurred in mid June the plea came in August. The officer involved said he wasn’t in the habit of releasing his arrests to the media. So likely it was someone somewhere else along the chain that did so.

In regards to the Clement issue…Gonzo remains Attorney General until Constitution Day…Sept. 18th. There was lots of commentary about that irony here on FDL. Guess you missed it. Clement remains Solicitor General until then. He cannot begin serving as Atty General until Gonzo is OUT. It looks as if Leahy is going to continue to pursue the issue of Gonzo’s perjury, and may even call him back for even further testimony. And there was some discussion on this site as to whether Schumer might squelch further investigation on the firing of the USAG’s in exchange for getting a AG nominee that is “responsible and decent”.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/200…..dGGJX4R9AF

I think that there can be a different strategy with “shiny objects” (if indeed Craig is actually one…I don’t think he is, actually). One can be led BY them or take control of the agenda. Paris Hilton or Leona Helmsley can be used as an icon of why the Republican obsession with killing the inheritance tax is ridiculous.

The Craig issue can be used to show the hypocrisy of the Senate Republicans in vilifying Craig while utterly giving Vitter a “pass”. As well it can be used, much as the Mark Foley situation was, to look into the whole process of whether Craig was “protected” or sought help to bury this issue from others in high places. The Foley issue had tremendous ramifications on “the base”…not simply in his Florida Congressional District.

But this doesn’t mean that the other issues aren’t critical right now, they are. But getting rid of a couple of GOP Senators and a half dozen corrupt Congresscritters would go a long ways in helping the cause. Suddenly that Veto Proof Majority can be worked out wth people withi the democratic majority…and you may have people actually willing to move to the left, rather than the right.

I was interested in the origin of the song, and did some googling.

It was done by Doug Clark. Apparently, he has quite a history of doing parodies.

http://indianhillmediaworks.ty…..s-and.html

snip from above-

~Next time you hear some executive talk about cross-platform distribution, you might want to fire up this Senator Craig item, from Doug Clark at The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Wash. That’s putting the multi in multi-media.~