It certainly is interesting to see the amount of attention Jerome "Swift Boat" Corsi’s new smear book, The Obama Nation, is already garnering. We wait with breathless anticipation Corsi’s multiple appearances on cable TV talking about Obama’s "unanswered questions" and anti-American attitudes, yadda yadda yadda — during which, one can rest assured, there will be no questions about Corsi’s history of ugly hatemongering at Free Republic.
In comparison, Cliff Schecter’s expose of John McCain, The Real McCain, has been given the classic media blackout treatment. There have been some brief references — like the Jon Stewart skit that discussed the "c word" story — but otherwise, Cliff’s cable appearances could be counted on one hand, as can the book’s mainstream-media reviews.
Today’s New York Times piece about Obama Nation sort of alludes to this when discussing how readily the right-wing media chamber picks up on books like Corsi’s:
“There’s just no doubt that in terms of longer-term infrastructure, there’s more out there on the right than there is on the left,” said Cliff Schecter, author of a liberal attack book on Mr. McCain, “The Real McCain,” which, with 35,000 copies in print, did not make the Times bestseller list.
Gee, I wonder if maybe the fact that the New York Times did not even bother to review the book — let alone treat its release as a news event worthy of thousand-word news piece — might have had something to do with the book’s relatively paltry sales.
Or maybe it was the fact that no one has yet come forward with anything even vaguely refuting the information in Schecter’s book. In fact, unlike Corsi’s entire body of work, The Real McCain is built out of well-established fact and thoroughly vetted information.
The Times piece, to its credit, does list the multiple falsehoods and distortions in Corsi’s book (Media Matters has a whole bunch more). So perhaps there will be at least a reasonable chance that this book will be treated more skeptically than Corsi’s Swift Boat book.
But you have to wonder why so much more ink and broadband will be devoted to this book than a similar book about McCain. Makes you wonder if those rumors about McCain’s people threatening the networks with retaliation for any airtime for Schecter are true.
Your librul media at work again.
Related posts:
- Recovery? Romer Contrasts GDP Growth with Job Loss
- Tweeting What Obama Said Off-the-Record About Kanye: Now THAT’s Terry
- Media Shocker: O’Reilly Selectively Edits Netroots Nation Hit Piece
- Obama: Fast-Tracked Chrysler Bankruptcy Worked, Now I’m Doubling Down with GM
- Study: US Accounted for 42% of Record Global Defense Spending in 2008





Spotlight







Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About Firedoglake
Advanced search

If that idjit Jonah Goldbergs book got major media play, you bet this one will too.
Pretty sure I just heard a guy on Hardballs says that it’s #1. Right-wing think tanks pre-ordered just a massive shit-load of ‘em….
They will be forwarded directly to the nearest Dollar Store…
Wow! “Why the AntiChrist wants to devour your children…” Is that photoshopped or is that for real…?
And I heard on All things Considered, I think, (NPR) serious accounts of things not true..the Muslim, drugs, etc (a list) plus the writer’s background as the Swift-boater. What trash. McCain should be really proud; reminds me of Obama’s concern about what was to come and his not taking the federal campaign money. Smart move.
I think what we need is for Oprah to do a show on Schecter’s book.
That would fix things right up.
Bob in HI
Actually, within a month, we’ll be seeing ads with pictures of the Coultergeist or BillO for some conservative book club and the corsi book will be offered as a “free gift” for donating X dollars to the cause.
dumb question.. what does this a-hole have a PhD in?
Typical media shilling really. The book gets big time coverage. That it is a pack of lies doesn’t matter. The lies will be heard by millions and seep into the national discourse and consciousness.
Just as an aside, not how PhD is played up on the cover to confer weight to Corsi and his charges. I expect that’s to impress the rubes, but a shit researcher is still a shit researcher no matter how many letters are put after his/her name.
Just who is this Corsi guy. What’s his back story? Where did he come from before the Swiftboating?
Maybe he needs the kind of scrutiny he purports to give the subjects of his books.
Get it going; I think she would do it.
From wiki
That Corsi is a Harvard product I find hilarious. A Harvard degree is considered quite prestigious but for the life of me every grad I met from an Ivy was a total mediocrity.
In other words, a Doctor of Inane Letters….
heh
she just had a show with michael moore and the head of the insurance companies’ lobbyists. tuesday. available on her website, i’m tired of linking it.
So KO was pushing the idea of Biden as Veep. Beats Bayh, but nothing to get excited about.
Odd how no one has been talking about Biden on the blogs lately.
he has turret’s, ain’t gonna happen./s
Maybe these anti-Obama books are doing well because the right wingers of America have nothing to defend John McCain with so they have to have lies to go after Barack? Could be. We know how the right wingers can’t think for themselves and have to have talking points emailed to them by Karl Rove everyday, otherwise, it’s just television static between their ears.
cute.
But it does pose an interesting question. Is the insanity going on in Georgia going to be a deciding factor in the veepstakes? A few days ago that would not have been part of the equation. Now . . . . not so sure.
Well, we can now discredit Corsi as a Harvard egghead. Clearly not to be believed.
-G
You keep up with the news way more than I do. Not Snark.
I asked this the other day, but got no answer. Where is Ann hiding these days?
So if this guy got his PhD in 72, what did he do after that to avoid serving in Viet Nam?
Corsi has also been closely associated with the Constitution Party (he considered running for it Presidential nominee this year), a Libertarian grouping, which is among other things anti-gay, against abortion even for rape or incest, against the federal income tax, backs English as a national language, favors the right of states to secede, and is nativist on immigration. In other words, about as loony tunes right as you can get.
NPR’s All Things Considered had a segment on Corsi’s Obama Nation this afternoon, in which they examined some of the claims. It wasn’t as biting as I had hoped it might be, but they certainly laid out that this guy is trying to defeat Obama and will say just about anything to help that to happen.
Listen here, but no transcript yet available.
You have wonder sometimes what these people are actually FOR ….. they are just mostly against anything that gives us freedon.
I have no idea. I do my best to avoid seeing her. Fortunately, there’s usually a movie on TV that I’ve seen before that is far more entertaining than she could ever be.
But it does seem that even the worst of the news shows (at least CNN and MSNBC) have finally recognized her toxicity and quit booking her.
We can make fun of it all we want, but those aholes were able to take a war hero—Kerry—and pummel him to the ground to a loss in 04. How is a black dude with a funny name and little experience going to survive it with the media on the side of the wrinkled old white haired guy?
It is very very possible that a democrat in this election cycle where rethugs are truly loathed by the public, is, never the less, going to lose the presidential race.
Those creeps will fight with every dirty evil weapon at their disposal and what will be the response?
Yea. Is that the actual cover?
Why do they hate our freedoms?
Did they mention that Corsi is an anti-Semitic nutjob and all-around bigoted crazy man with zero credibility?
I know! How about a Bloggingheads TV debate between Corsi and Schecter? Dibs on the popcorn concession.
It has to do with the marketing, a PhD from Harvard. I’m just saying the reality in terms of the actual quality of the degree is vastly overblown, and this is true of all the Ivies. They sell themselves on the prestige of their degrees and on their connections and ins to lucrative jobs and careers, but what gets lost in the shuffle and hoopla is that the quality of the grad work is often quite mundane.
he’ll discredit himself, patience grasshopper.
Jerome Corsi, PHD.(Pretty Huge Douchebag)
-G
kerry stood back and watched it all and thought he could counterract it with his ‘personality’…..
obama knows it’s a different game….those around him know what kinda game it is.
i hope.
good, no, excellent question
Well, the point I was trying to make is the far fight often publicly hold the educated elite up to an endless stream of ridicule, until they want to use the same pedigrees as a stamp of seriousness and gravitas.
Is Corsi and elite jerk who never gets out in the real world or is he a learned man of letters who’s got important things to offer.
Depends on which day and which agenda needs pushing.
-G
maybe.
they only ridicule the elite when they are of the other party. They are impressed by the degree when it’s held by one of theirs. As always, a double standard. But we do it too.
wow – what a GREAT IDEA!
How can we make this happen?
PLEASE, JANE or CHRISTY OR BEV – how can we do this/????
Didn’t McSame’s campaign respond to the “trollop” and “c*nt” charges saying that Panama John was just tired and didn’t mean it, or something to that effect? Point is, they didn’t deny he said that to Sindy. No coverage at all in BigMedia.
We’re truly in bizarro world in regards to the Conglomerate Media Complex.
I cherish my autographed copy of The Real McCain.
Uh-oh.
Already up to no. 6 on Amazon, proving that morons everywhere are willing to spend $15.80 to have their idiotic prejudices confirmed.
I certainly don’t blame you. And, I have to hope that is the reason we are not seeing her.
You remember the thing with her and Elizabeth Edwards? Maybe there’s another reason to be glad she’s not talking. Imagine what she would be saying. Or, not.
i have mentioned all day a panel that was on cspan today–aei panel, on russia/georgia, pretty much says what is going on…neocons love the sound of their own voices uninterrupted, and spill, then say more trying to clean it up.
i love repub panels. they always spill their guts.
http://inside.c-spanarchives.o…..=566908072
your other statement–deciding factor? of course it is. too much money and reps are in this, deep.
see joint baltic thingy. gee, i’m tired of spitting out links on this.]
keep your head up girrl.
stephen payne, the bribery for bush library by baltic guy–board member of this place, then scheunemann is involved……
http://www.jbanc.org/
picture of mccain advisors in march showing up there for a ‘meeting’ scheunemann front and center–georgian advisor on right in back row, female. article and pic scrubbed from the site, just like 10 other sites i had bookmarked…and those were only the ones i checked today.cbl2 found the pic for me after it had been scrubbed. there’s so much here i don’t jkow what to post.
http://www.alausa.org/gg/March…..n_Reps.jpg
I agree with you 100%. The right wingers have already gotten a head start with their lovely little emails containing untruths and bullshit about Barack Obama. Barack has responded by putting up a website refuting all their garbage. That said, the MSM loves right wingers (with the exception of KO of course…he’s the only sane guy on the news in a 24 hour period) and will let every negative about Johnny McTeleprompter slide. My response? We should start calling ONLY Joe Lieberman & Lindsay Graham’s offices to complain. We could drive them crazy at some point. LOL
my genius historian uncle who worked at the guggenheim says ‘maybe’ as a ‘yes’.
want an ice cream? well, maybe.
Got you. That’s a good point. I hadn’t thought of that but it’s true.
Jerome R. Corsi, P.H.D. = Elitist
my sister informed me she mailed me the hot book.
eat pray something
was in the beauty shop and it came up, customer pressing the hairdresser to hurry up and finish it, she had just mailed it to me…….
so, corsi’s book? maybe being read by hermits.
Sorry for the OT but I have been sick with the flu and missed most of the weekend… what was the total raised for the money bomb?
And you can see Corsi right now for the next hour on Larry King on CNN
Photoshop credit, please, on the cover art . . .? Well done!
No — that’s what I meant when I said it wasn’t as biting as I’d hoped.
The reporter described how Corsi took things that had already been dealt with and debunked (Obama is a Muslim!) and tried to continue to pass it off as the truth. Similarly, he told how Corsi tries to stir up trouble around Obama’s drug use. “Yes,” says Corsi (I’m paraphrasing), “Obama’s told everyone about his youthful experimentation, but he’s never said he stopped using drugs . . .” Actually, says the reporter, I’ve heard Obama talk about his drug use many times to high school and college audiences, and almost every time he makes it clear that he quit long, long ago. (The reporter put an age to it — perhaps at age 20 — but I am not certain about the specific number.)
In some ways, the discussion of the book had a kind of “well, we knew this kind of slime was coming” feel to it, and the anchor and the reporter both made it clear (in a nice, low-key, public-radio way) that this was a political hit job, not a biography.
He can’t be an elitist if he’s not black, owns one home, and has less than $4 million in the bank. /snark
No, it’s not the actual cover. I went to Amazon and looked as soon as I saw it. The actual cover looks normal – in other words, is not observing truth in advertising. /s
Good grief! I just allowed the cover photo and text of the Corsi book to really sink in. Is that for real?
Yeah, it’s so well done I had to go check on Amazon that it’s not the real cover. David, you naughty boy, you.
Whew
Right now it stands at 2399 donors who gave $158,306.
Anyone want to be donor #2400?
Does that mean EW is an elitist, too?
Bob in HI
same here, if oregondave hadn’t said anything, it would’ve gone right on by me.
Eat Pray Love
It’s been a “hot” book for over a year.
Corsi? Probably be in the remainder bins along with Coultergeist by Nov. 5.
thanks, hate to bother you in the middle of a thread, but did you get my hope/comment that you add the recent acting transportation secretary onto your list of bush scandals?
a lawyer, born and raised in government frill jobs, now transportation sevretary….was on cspan a week or so ago, embarrassing. talked about the ‘hiring out’ of roads to contractors. how it will benefit all. but didn’t know anything about it being done in florida right now… there are people here where i live that wouldn’t be able to afford a toll to get to their jobs in columbus that they have to do because jobs have left here.
really need to add this asswipe. lawyer, no experience, in charge of the entire national transportion system.
get me a barf bag…..
moody blues just came on the stereo, why do we never get an answer.
And you can see Corsi right now for the next hour on Larry King on CNN
Thank you!
But no.
Corsi is getting his ass kicked on Larry King Live right now. I’m enjoying it.
hugh–for you
question
moody blues
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY9YuSg7I8U
New Ian post
mwaaaaaaaaaah
big smooch
Larry King is as old as McCain. Let’s hope he can intercept his guests when needed without pulling a muscle!
Isn’t that what Lieberman would call an Ish Elokim, a man of God?
Back from dinner with friend of Ukranian extraction if anyone is interested in sample of one about how Ukraine reacts to Russia & Georgia.
OT
Howie Klein has a tasty piece up right now: Rahm Emanuel Gets It Wrong Again– His Tone Deaf War Against Comedy Central And Stephen Colbert
Bwahahahahahaha!
i’m outta touch on some things. not on others.
that’s what friends and family are for–to weed through them.
: )
very..
how many margs?
no, don’t say. that would ruin it…
did she say how the ukraine has fingers in georgia?
Thank you peterr :D
just so you know ecahn, epu’d. you may want to save your powder.
email is good.
I’ll make a note and check into it. Thanks.
there’s too many things to keep up with.
information station, d’s treehouse, both names friends and family call ‘my house’ may have to go on sabbatical.
i was out of town and didn’t call into the local show, they missed me.
info lady they call me….another calls me lady liberty, didn’t like it, but he did like the intent.
they’re tearin’ all over the georgia thing, even the repubs. all over the drilling. all over anything the repubs are handin’ out as information. and these are people who normally fall for it.
so, if they aren’t nobody else is.
please watch the cspan aei on georgia panel….pretty please.
they slipped. the agenda is all there. really. so says info lady.
it’s a biggie, if you need me to, can give you the info, click on my name and email through there.
Bah hahahahahaha! Corsi is now admitting on LKL/CNN that he walked 200 miles with Muslims! Hysterical. What a hypocritical right wing neck drooling asshole he is to write this book against Obama just to make the right wingers of America hate Obama.
Uh ha. The Barack Obama supporter on CNN just said that the reason why Corsi’s book and others like his does so well on Amazon/NYT is because the right wingers (the wealthy ones of course) will be these books up as soon as it hits the stands to make it appear like it’s being read by a large portion of Americans.
The only right wingers can win is to cheat. This is a very good example!
LOL
“Barack Obama supporter” = Media Matters
Okay, I’m tired. Going to bed. ;-)
’welcome
amd i’ve passed your list all over the place. thank you. i remember when it started, thank you for keeping it going. smooch. hug.
There are a lot of laughs and discussions at the Amazon page for this book. Here are two snippets:
M. Navarro says:
i was leaning towards obama but after reading this book only half way through. i have completely made a 360.
Alex Gershon says:
If you made a 360, doesn’t that mean you’re back to supporting Obama? Maybe it’s the new math, or all that independent objectivity of yours…
+++++++++++++++
J. Thompson says:
I have just ordered this book, so I can’t say yet how I will feel about what is said in it. I voted for Obama in the primary, but have changed my support to McCain after closely looking at Obama’s positions on the war in Iraq, the economy, oil drilling, and increased income taxes for socialistic programs.
Stout House says: Congratulations, J. You ordered some books on Amazon and saw Corsi “on the TV.” A trained orangutan could do the same. The question, though, is whether or not he would understand what he sees. Like you, the same critter could also be trained to pull a lever for McCain in November. Also like you, he’d be ignorant of the consequences of his actions . . . until John McCain comes along in January and takes away his M&Ms.
Yep! Wearing a sarong makes you a Muslim! This is just the sort of ridiculous fare that the right-wing has to push off on a culturally-blindered American public.
Men wear sarongs in Indonesia because they are easier to put on and cooler than trousers. One wears to go to the bathroom in the morning, after a shower, and in just relaxing around the house. It’s like wrapping a towel around ones waist. Lots of Ozzie surfers in Kuta Beach in Bali wear sarongs because, unlike their jammies, they get more coverage from mosquito bites. Almost all Indonesian males wear sarongs at some point…and that includes the Hindu Balinese, the Christian Bataks, and many Buddhists. Sarongs are also useful as devices as blankets, sheets, changing one’s underclothing, sunshades, pillows and towels.
Usually the attire for a mosque is more formal, a pair of loose white pajama-like pants. It’s NOT generally a sarong. This is an Arab/South Asian introduction into Indonesia. It’s accompanied by a white shirt and the topi, a small skull cap.
This is simply more silliness on the part of the right-wing looney-toons.
1) All high level government officials, elected and appointed, are members of the ruling class of citizens. Think of them as members in good standing of the “U.S.A. Country Club”.
2) The dues for this membership are a substantial amount of personal wealth, or the assistance of those so endowed AND the good-will of the other members. Do something inamicable to the good name of the club, and you are in danger of being kicked out of the club.
3) Those few members in the club whose conscience would favor exposing and diminishing the massive fraud and theft some members of the U.S.A.C.C. (USACC) perpetrate against the Commonwealth of the U.S.A., and against the poor around the world (who remain the fortunate ones in their nations if they are not killed or dismembered by the U.S. M-I-C outright), those few honest members of the USACC fully know what fate waits for them.
4) The USACC has at its disposal a full-bore propaganda agency broadcast agency (Fox TV 24/7 Channels), a full armada of Republican radio opinion making and reputation “destroyers”, newsprint media which are classic examples of Yellow Journalism and a Main Stream Media which provides an unbalanced presentation of “news you need to know” in proportions of 75% favoring international corporate interests, 24% presenting “Centrist” interests, and the remaining perhaps 1% presenting Liberal and Progressive causes in a non-discriminatory light. No wonder America has “TURNED” more Republican or “conservative” in the last 30 years.
5) It is unfair to ask any newsperson to throw themself into the media Buzzsaw which awaits those members who dare to speak ill of fellow members of the USACC. If one has that audacity, their political career will be steered onto the same track that took Dan Rather to the sawdust pile of those who “bucked” THE club.
What we need to do is to create a new media, a new distribution system of the Progressive and Liberal ideas which brought this nation to its now quickly shrinking greatness. At the same time, except for those whose mission it is to expose the lies, disceptions, and half-truths of the media stooges, we should shun the marketing hacks posing as truth-teller journlists, and all the sponsors who have us, their customers, pay the salaries for thesee hacks.
After all, the MSM State Progaganda Lies cannot reach those who are not listening, nor watching, nor reading their Orwellian drivel.
That’s why I am here!
That was yours truly. Thanks.
Actually, to his credit, Larry King pulled up verbatim a couple of the quotes Corsi had laid out at the Freerepublic site. They were nasty, nasty ones. Anti semitic, anti pope, anti islam. Corsi’s only comeback was that he had apologized, that these were not reflective of his overall writings, and meant to be provocative, and that he had done much work in penance.
I have to say that while Waldman was effective in the Larry King show, and thank god for the excellent work of MM, I wish that he had cited more specifics against Corsi. He brought up two – the nefarious drug charge and the ridiculous sharia divorce business. Corsi tried to slime his way out. The problem is that Corsi has that air of Cheney about him – he is clearly a nutcase, but he sounds and looks reasonable in that avuncular white haired way.
I do wish Larry King would bring on Cliff Shechter!
As noted, Larry King and Paul Waldman called out Corsi quite effectively on his Freep days and his antisemitism, antipapalism, and antiislamism.
The CorporateM$M will do anything and everything they can to protect their bottom line. We no longer have journalism in this country–that died years ago–what we have is plutocratism.
Does anyone really think these huge companies are going to give a fair shake to anyone who might even hint at holding them accountable or might suggest there should be some regulation brought into the picture?
You bet they’re behind McCain–and while they’re there they’re going to be stuffing as much adulation (and laundered cash) up McCain’s wrinkled old posterior as they can. This is Reagan’s legacy, this is what he was all about, and it was predicted back in 2002 in yet another neglected book, Reaganism and the Death of Representative Democracy by Walter Williams (Georgetown University Press).
We’re out here alone with the truth in blog-land. Don’t expect justice or journalism from the CorporateM$M. It’s a wasteland.
The NY Times miscategorizes Corsi’s book as “non-fiction”, when it so clearly is total fiction!