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Monday, June 20, 2005
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The Method To Howard's Madness�.
Governor Dean understands that wimping out and making apologies is
playing right into the right and the media’s playbook. Bush is limping
along, and now’s as good a time as any for an opposition with backbone.
Some early quotes: “We are going to be much tougher and in-your-face
with the Republicans when they say things that [...]
[Oliver Willis]
10:13:00 PM 
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The Whining Baby Caucus.
The ethically challenged and criminally corrupt Republican leader Tom
DeLay is whining that Nancy Pelosi should apologize for calling the war
on Iraq a “grotesque mistake”. One wonders if DeLay considers the
majority of Americans who now think of the war as a huge mistake as
similarly mean. Considering his past activity, you also have to [...]
[Oliver Willis]
10:11:48 PM
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Where You Least Expect It.... I know posting about Michael Jackson is completely played out, but you've gotta read this brilliant commentary by Stephen King [1] in the print edition of the newest issue of Entertainment Weekly[1] : It's
sickening that it takes a columnist in an entertainment magazine to
point out that more than 2,000 newspeople covered the Jackson trial —
which is only a few hundred more than the number of American servicemen
and women who have died in Iraq. On the same day that crowds gathered
in Times Square (and around the world) to learn the fate of the Pale
Peculiarity, another four suicide bombings took place in that tortured,
bleeding country. And if you tell me that news doesn't belong in
Entertainment Weekly, I respond by saying Michael Jackson under a black
umbrella doesn't belong on the front page of the New York Times.
[. . .]
The media first turned the trial into a freak-show by emphasizing
Jackson's peculiarities rather than his humanity, and stoked the
ratings with constant, trivializing coverage while other, far more
important stories went under-reported or completely ignored in Iraq,
Iran, Afghanistan, North Korea, and Washington, D.C.
The press might respond by saying, "We gave the people what they wanted."
My response would be, "My job is to give them what they want. When
he steps into a recording studio, it's Michael Jackson's job to give
them what they want. Your job is to give the people what they need." Is
it just me or does it seem that the worse things get with news
organizations, the more we see entertainers like John Stewart, Al
Franken, and now Stephen King feel like they're forced to pick up the
slack?
1 : Yes, that Stephen King.
2 : Yes, that Entertainment Weekly. [The Talent Show]
10:10:51 PM
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Nasty, Brutish, and Short.
Susan Madrak writes: Fooled: I was following some Google link to a post
on a Motley Fool message board. In order to read it, you had to
register, so I did. Big mistake. Ever since then, I've been swamped
with penny-stock emails -- over 100 a day. Be warned. There has been a
big change on the Internet in the past decade. A decade ago, the
Internet seemed to be a place that exemplified the left-anarchist
utopian doctrines of Prince Kropotkin--friendly and helpful people
coming together to create things for the common good, expecting that
their contributions would be more than matched by those of others and
that all would benefit. Today? Today the Internet seems dominated by
people like--well, like the proprietors of the Motley Fool, who don't
care how much of Susan Madrak's time their clients' emails waste as
long as they can make a few ¢¢¢¢ by selling her registration info. It
is, to me, surprising how *many* people there are out on the Internet
who do not care how large a burden their actions impose on others as
long as they hold some promise of gaining them a trivial advantage.
It's the State of Nature out...
[Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal]
8:15:02 AM
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Moral Idiocy. The moral idiocy of the Right (Chas Johnson edition, referencing the Iraqi insurgents' torture rooms): Despite the incredible cheapening and trivialization of the word by the likes of Amnesty International and Dick Durbin, this is what real torture looks like. Oh really? So what does this describe?
Apparently, the honor of the nation can be defended by yelling "We're
Not Nazis" and "We're Not as Bad as the Terrorists" and wearing "I Love
Gitmo" and "What Happens in Gitmo Stays in Gitmo" t-shirts. Not my country. My country is better than the Charles Johnsons, Rush Limbaughs and Powerlines of the world. Update [2005-6-19 23:12:38 by Armando]:
Neil Cavuto of Faux say that those of us who oppose torture in all
cases, have forgotten who the enemy is, caring more about them than our
own. No Neil, we are fighting for the soul of our country. You and your
ilk would turn us into terrorists - engaging in systematic torture.
That is not our country. We are not terrorists. You Neil Cavuto, want
to make our country terrorists. We fight against you and your ilk. [Daily Kos]
4:24:43 AM
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© Copyright
2005
Michael Mussington.
Last update:
7/1/2005; 6:37:35 AM.
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