Media Defensive On Downing Street Coverage

Media Defensive On Downing Street Coverage

Mark Follman (salon.com) writes about the rebound of the Downing Street Memo, now that the mainstream press realizes the story is not going to be allowed die while it's in the hands of the ever-tenacious citizen's media. Members of Congress are beginning to step over mainstream media to reach out to citizen bloggers - offering interviews, tips, and information they once offered exclusively to the mainstream journalists.

I appreciate Follman's critique of statement made by Howard Kurtz about the quality of the media's coverage during the lead-up period to the Iraq war.

Kurtz said:

"The press performance in covering this tightly disciplined administration has been far from perfect, especially on Iraq. But it's worth remembering that during the Clinton years, it was conservatives who saw the media as being embarrassingly soft on the White House."

Follet commented:

Whether or not that was the case -- the press was plenty vigorous in its pursuit of Whitewater and Monica -- the stakes are an awful lot higher now.

- Think back to the time of Clinton's friendly fellatio, and then bring yourself back to 2005.
- Understand the consequences of Bush misleading an entire nation into a war of option - along with a post-war which was not adequately planned, and in fact, has proven to be a nightmare.
- Contrast the proportionate amount of in-depth media coverage the respective stories received.
- Cry for a loss of solemn responsibility - which is overruled by ratings-wars and advertising dollars - in the mainstream media.
- Pray for a whistleblower.


UPDATES:

Robert Parry Commentary
-LSMSM (The Lying Mainstrean Media)
- Mocking the Downing Street Memo

Iddybud Debuts On CNN's "Inside the Blogs"

Iddybud Debuts On CNN's "Inside the Blogs"

I've been spending a lot of time at my parents' home lately. My mother is going through chemotherapy and she needs a lot of help with routine chores which she is far too weak to do herself. I was taking a break to watch CNN's Inside Politics this afternoon, (I try to watch every day), and when the "Inside the Blogs" segment came on, I thought I saw a familiar blog page on one of Abbi Tatton's computer screens.

It was my own.

The transcript calls me "ittybird", but I heard Abbi, and she clearly said "Iddybud."

ABBI TATTON, CNN BLOG REPORTER: And so, of course, Randy Cunningham -- we said he has made a statement saying that he's denied any wrongdoing. And that's over here Ittybird.Blogspot.com (ph) with a picture of the Congressman.

In an interview last week, they point out he said, "My whole life I've lived above board. I've never even smoked a marijuana cigarette." Well, there you go, is the point they make on that one.

I hope Abbi will pay me future visits. She and Jacki Schechner are always welcome here at Iddybud.

New Blog: 'Now, That's Progress'

New Blog: 'Now, That's Progress'
The Progressive Depot has a brand new blog of its own. It's called "Now, That's Progress." The blog's introductory declaration can be read by going HERE.

Thomas Friedman Offends Many With Terrible Misjudgement

Thomas Friedman Offends Many With Terrible Misjudgement

Thomas Friedman is making some terrible judgements lately, and the most unfair judgement I've seen in recent days is his assertion that

(quote) "Liberals don’t want to talk about Iraq because, with a few exceptions, they thought the war was wrong and deep down don’t want the Bush team to succeed. As a result, Iraq is drifting sideways and the whole burden is being carried by our military."

I'd remind Mr. Friedman that not only have people like myself TALKED about the Iraq war, we have been SCREAMING about the Iraq war from the lead-up until the present.

How does Mr. Friedman come to the twisted conclusion that, by our pointing out the catastrophic blunders which the Bush administration has made, it is resulting in the military failure itself? BALDERDASH!

I would remind Mr. Friedman of the not-so-liberal General Anthony Zinni's list of Ten Mistakes made by the Bush administration.

I would also remind Mr. Friedman that he was taken in by the administration himself, and I believe it's partly because he is an opitimist and wants to see success in the region. That said, Mr. Friedman is not being intellectually honest in presenting any provable form of truth in his all-too general interpretation of how "liberal" Americans feel and/or think "deep-down." That's voo-doo mind-reading malarkey and, needless to say, it is not at all professional.

I'd remind Mr. Friedman that we'd all like to see peace and prosperity in the region and that we do not cheer at the news stories of dead civilians and soldiers. To the contrary, it breaks our hearts.

How dare he make such sweeping generalizations? I am deeply offended.

I'm forwarding a reference to this post to the NY Times ombudsman. You, too, can reach Brian Calame, the NYT ombudsman, here: public@nytimes.com or call (212) 556-7652.



*Mr. Friedman offended Billmon.

Tom Delay Doesn't Want a Cunningham Investigation

Tom Delay Doesn't Want a Cunningham Investigation

"Just because it appears in an article doesn’t mean a thing....Duke Cunningham is a hero."

This is a recent statement made by Tom Delay, while defending Rep. Duke Cunningham's home sale, which some suspect may have been an actual 3/4 million dollar "payback-favor" he got from a recently-enriched defense contractor named Mitchell Wade. Wade had purchased Cunningham's house for an exorbitant price with the help of a real estate businesswoman named Elizabeth Todd, who also happened to be a major political contributor to Cunningham. Wade quickly sold the house at a loss, to himself, of $700,000. At the same time, Wade was mysteriously enriched with government contracts. Did Cunningham pocket $700,000 in return for special favors to Mitchell Wade?

Tom Delay doesn't want this investigated.

Duke Cunningham's statement in his own defense:



"My whole life I've lived aboveboard. I've never even smoked a marijuana cigarette ... I feel very confident that I haven't done anything wrong."
LINK

Well, there you go. Any upstanding politician who's never smoked a "J" must not be capable of graft.

Josh Marshall is doing a fantastic investigation into this story at Talking Points Memo.

photo

photo credit: BBC news

A homeless child sleeps on a bed made from a campaign poster in the south-eastern province of Kerman, Hashem Hashemi, Iraq.

Wolfowitz Recommends Cutting Subsidies to American Farmers

Wolfowitz Recommends Cutting Subsidies to American Farmers



The only way that Paul Wolfowitz, as new head of the World Bank, can foresee helping Africa's farms to grow and compete, is to hurt the American farmers.

This will be a bitter pill to swallow for America's farmers. They will wonder why it is them who should directly suffer, in a free, democratic nation and a land of "opportunity", so that the World Bank can assist another continent.

It also puts the 'new world order' at odds with American democratic interests.

I think its worthy of debate. It cannot be denied that the interests of the World Bank do not run in true course with the business interests of the free American individual and the way that individual is served by his own nation's government.

On one hand, we see that the World Bank is offering compassion for Africa and its people by offering a constructive economic design for their future. These aren't hand-outs being given to Africa for the sheer sake of hand-outs. Instead, they are being given the economic tools to become independent and free.

Yet, many American farmers will ask: Why did it have to come at their expense?

I'm not as concerned about the American corporate agricultural system as I am worried about the family farmer who is barely getting by. We tend to forget that this nation's earliest economic backbone and social order once rested, in large part, among and within the lives of the family farmers. They work harder than most other people for meager economic return. They provide us with nourishment. I think, in a political sense, that we should give them far more economic respect.

The Change to Win Coalition - Labor Moves On

The Change to Win Coalition - Labor Moves On

There's a conundrum that has been presented by Harold Myerson in today's WaPo. Splitting up the Labor movement would fragment the force required to organize Wal-Mart or dethrone Tom DeLay in 2006. Yet, to reverse labor's decline, the SEIU contends that the movement must be restructured so it can organize again. The problem seen by SEIU is that the AFL-CIO has "encouraged" unions to work toward worthy goals, yet they have not moved to make the changes in strategy, structure, rules, and budget priorities to achieve those goals. Talk is cheap - action is necessary.

The SEIU is the the AFL-CIO's largest affiliate. They passed a resolution last weekend authorizing its top officers to take the union out of the longstanding Labor federation when they deem it appropriate. The central point of contention surrounds a loss in confidence toward incumbent AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.

Change or die - sometimes it has to come down to that. Let's hope the AFL-CIO finds a way to stay together by agreeing to restructure. If not, I hope that Americans will support Labor in their struggle to find a successful way to move on.

Reference:
SEIU
Unite To Win Blog

We Don't Believe Judith Miller Anymore

We Don't Believe Judith Miller Anymore

Josh Marshall reminds us of what I've said in the past. Judith Miller cannot be trusted after her writings in the lead-up to the Iraq War heavily contributed to the misleading of America. Why is she still with the NY Timid Times? We don't believe a word she says anymore.

Mary Carey says -

Mary Carey says -
"We can show Washington that we're
normal people, too....
Mary and a friend



I'm especially looking
forward to meeting Karl Rove....

....I know that he's against gay marriage, but
I think I can convince
him that a little girl-on-girl action now and then isn't so bad!"

~~~~~~~~




Now, tell me - doesn't this make the fuss over Janet's boob-exposure
and the FCC fines on Howard Stern look ridiculously hypocritical?

Who needs Howard Stern or Janet Jackson when you've got GOP fundraisers with porn stars?

A misled Christian conservative calls Bush a "liberal" for attending a fundraising dinner with a porn star.

Sorry, Conservative Christian, but that's not a liberal or political value.

It's a sex-based value - and a matter of good taste and tact (or a lack thereof).

Don't blame us progressives. Do you see me promoting porn stars anywhere on this blog? Please! Give me a break.

Throw shame at George Bush if you must, but he's surely not one of us progressives. We are principled people. He's one of you Conservative Christians - he tells you that everyday. You keep him.

While you're at it, Conservative Christian, ask some of your Southern Republican Christian heroes why they can't apologize for their pro-lynching brethren of olde?

No apology for Lynching in states where it was most prevalent - embracing porn - lying the nation into war - is this as good as this party gets?

Lynching Resolution - Who Failed to Sign On?

"I hope you won't be hanging until they apologize."
Lynching Resolution - Who Failed to Sign On?

I saw this comment today at Daily Kos, in a posting about the Lynching resolution (regarding those who failed to support the "apology" measure):

"My head is bleeding
These right wing ***$%!**s want to stop everything because a fictional cartoon character might be gay. But when confronted with an actual historical wrong, they scurry like cockroaches in the dark." -- JoeWPgh, at Daily Kos

There are 78 senators who sponsored the (S.Res.39) resolution opposing the racist lynchings of African Americans. And, the 22 apparent nonsponsors are listed below, along with links to how these Senators (IF they were in the Senate in 2002) voted on the Hate Crimes legislation ( S 625, which was defeated with a 54-43 vote in June, 2002).

In the sense of fairness, I listed the Senators who voted in support of the Hate Crimes legislation with asterisks after their names.

It is the Senators who refused to sign on to the Hate Crimes legislation and this current Lynching resolution (and their constituency, apparently) about whom I would be seriously concerned.

(According to John Aravosis, the resolution was passed via voice vote so the dissenters could avoid putting actual votes on the record.)

Kenneth Brummel has called some of the offices of these Senators and he has posted the responses he's gotten from them.

The List I've Compiled, After Research:

Lamar Alexander (R-TN)(not in Senate June 2002)
Bob Bennett (R-Utah)
Thad Cochran (R-Mississippi)
John Cornyn (R-Texas) (not in Senate 2002)
Michael Crapo (R-ID)(no vote on Hate Crimes 2002)
Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming)
Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)
Judd Gregg (R-New Hampshire)
Orrin Hatch (R-Utah)
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas)
Jon Kyl (R-Arizona)
Trent Lott (R-MS)
Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) (not in Senate 2002)
Jack Reed* (D-Rhode Island)
Dick Shelby (R-Alabama)
Gordon Smith* (R-OR)
John Sununu (R-New Hampshire)(Didn't cast vote on Hate Crimes)
Craig Thomas (R-Wyoming)
George Voinovich (R-Ohio)

To their credit, Reed and Smith supported Hate Crimes Legislation in 2002.
Alexander, Cornyn, Crapo, Lisa Murkowski, and Sununu were not in the Senate or did not cast votes on the Hate Crimes bill in June 2002.


Note: I may be amending the list as I learn more about who signed on (and failed to sign on).

Michael Jackson Verdict: NOT GUILTY

Michael Jackson Verdict: NOT GUILTY!

Since it's the only thing on television right now, I thought I might as well say something about it.

"Mamma-say-mama-
sah muh-ma koo-sah-
Yee- Hee - Hee!"



Count One: Not Guilty
Count Two: Not Gulity
Count Three: Not Gulity
Count Four: Not Guilty
Count Five: Not Guilty
Count Six: Not Gulity
Count Seven: Not Guilty
Count Eight: Not Guilty (at all levels of offense)
Count Nine: Not Guilty (at all levels of offense)
Count Ten: Not Guilty (at all levels of offense)

Define "Over the Top", You Potty Mouth (Dick)

Define "Over the Top", You Potty Mouth (Dick)

"Fuck yourself," said the man who is a heartbeat from the presidency [to Sen. Patrick Leahy] (Washington Post, June 25, 2004)

"I think Howard Dean's over the top..That's not the kind of individual you want to have representing your political party." -- From the obscenity-spewing potty-mouth who is a heartbeat away from the presidency. (Reuters)

Timid Media Perpetuates Bush Administration Lies

Timid Media Perpetuates Bush Administration Lies

What's wrong with the mainstream media?
We've been conned by President Bush - the proof is in the Downing Street Memo.
The mainstream media gave Bush a pass in 2002 when they should have been investigating and questioning.
The mainstream media gives Bush a pass now because they failed to investigate and question.
Why should the mainstream's failure to investigate and question be allowed to perpetuate the greatest lie ever told to the American public by their President?

*inspired by Atrios and the smug and unconcerned Michael Kinsley, who is happy to shrug his shoulders in an "I already knew-that" style and tell us that he's not surprised that Bush would fix intelligence and facts to fit a desired policy. This is the same Michael Kinsley who said, back in 2003, that the debate about WMD’s existence was always really academic, and that most people had moved on even though the WMD was never found. He was weak then, and I think that's why he's weak now. I suggest, when the military draft is reinstituted (don't kid yourself, it's coming, and middle class boys (and girls) are being sent to Iraq, the tune and the public mood will change, even if Kinsley's attitude doesn't.

Downing Street/Iraq War Propaganda Updates

Downing Street Memo/Iraq War Con-Job Updates

The mainstream media cannot bury this sizzler of a story underneath their "Mean Howard Dean" and "Michael Jackson Trial" stories -- unless they wish to relinquish all claims to being 'investigative journalists' and leave it to the bloggers.

See Third Estate Sunday Review's editorial: Mainstream press, do your damn job


Raw Story is reporting that six new British documents reveal details on the case for the Iraq war quoted in the UK press but never printed raw; A longer narrative will be available later today.

-------------------------------------

The Iraq options paper (Raw Story) - Jack Straw indicates the case for war was weak; that the Iraq situation had remained unchanged; and that the United States would not have gone to war without September 11.

-------------------------------------

Raw Story: A memo from Christopher Meyer, British ambassador to the US from 1997 through February 2003, and dated in March of 2002. Strikingly, the document speaks of a "need to wrongfoot Saddam on the inspectors" and suggests British intelligence and diplomacy draws a great deal on articles written by Sy Hersh in the New Yorker. It also describes a meeting with then-Deputy Secretary of Defense, Paul Wolfowitz.

-------------------------------------

Sunday Times Online: UK PAPER TELLS OF 2002 NEED FOR WAR 'EXCUSE'- Read the secret doc: Make conditions for the Iraq war. The document said the only way the allies could justify military action was to place Saddam Hussein in a position where he ignored or rejected a United Nations ultimatum ordering him to co-operate with the weapons inspectors.

********

Look at David Sanger bending over backwards to give the White House a free pass on this - with the God-awful misleading headline: "Prewar British Memo Says War Decision Wasn't Made." The NY Times should be ashamed - and sharply criticized! The content in the memo directly contradicts The NY Times' "fuzzy" headline.

********

-------------------------------------

Raw Story: Condoleeza Rice committed to regime change in early 2002

-------------------------------------

Raw Story: Iraq: The British legal background


-------------------------------------

The FULL TEXT of the UK 'Iraq Options Paper'

A refusal [by Iraq] to admit UN inspectors, or their admission and subsequent likely frustration, which resulted in an appropriate finding by the Security Council could provide the justification for military action....sensitising the public: a media campaign to warn off the dangers that Saddam poses and to prepare public opinion both in the UK and abroad....The US should be encouraged to consult widely on its plans..."

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Downing Street Memo Argument Debunker

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Google

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Lamest Commentary of the Day:
Michael Kinsley

- (Mike, don’t feel bad that bloggers beat you to the biggest story of the decade) (BTC News)

Most Incredibly Misleading Headline:
"Prewar British Memo Says War Decision Wasn't Made."


Today's Quotes:

Eric Margolis - "Anyone who still believes all the Anglo-American propaganda about the Iraq invasion is now faced by deep disillusionment."

Juan Cole:

"The seeping of blogistan into the pages of the Times of London with regard to its own scoops seems to me a bellwether of the kinds of changes that are being produced in our information environment by the blogging phenomenon. The gatekeepers at the New York Times and the Washington Post can no longer decide whether a leak is a story or a non-story. The public decides what a story is."

Ruth Conniff (political editor of The Progressive): "Making sure that people see the facts, and hammering home the point that the lies we were told led us to the mess we're in now, has got to be part of the solution."

Ignore the Power of TV at Your Political Peril

Ignore the Power of TV at Your Political Peril

Josh Shear has a post about the power of television. He wonders why liberals cannot seem to "wake up and properly utilize the most used medium in the country"

Quotes:

"....we need to drop our professed hatred for television, know what's on, what's effective and what people are watching, and then figure out the best way to use the medium....

....we're not going to be able to effectively utilize television if we're not attuned to what's on and how well it gets the point across."

Honey Glazed Chicken and Rice Pilaf

"Honey Glazed Chicken and Rice Pilaf"

- FOX NEWS SUNDAY, JUNE 12 - Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee kept repeating the Gitmo Sunday dinner menu for prisoners - and using it as proof we don't abuse detainees.
Uh-huh.

*I'll bet the children love Gitmo's honey glazed chicken and rice pilaf.

June 11 Tar Heel Tavern

June 11 Tar Heel Tavern
Don't miss this week's edition of the Tar Heel Tavern at "A Sort of Notebook." Waterfall has done an excellent job of showcasing THT participants' entries based upon this week's theme: "Back to Nature."

Back to Nature

Back to Nature

"O you, who covers the high places with waters,
who sets the sand as a bound to the sea and upholds all things,
the sun sings your praises; the moon gives you glory,
Every creature offers a hymn to you, his author and creator forever."

- An Eastern Orthodox prayer

About These First Four photos:
1. I took this at sunset in Sedona, Az. after returning from a hike.
2. My nieces at an apple farm in Central New York. The orchards are a popular place in upstate N.Y. in the Fall.
3.A shell on the beach in Maine. I just loved the way the sand sparkled in the sun that day.
4. The Adirondack Mountains in Autumn. It looked like a watercolor painting - and the photo is true to that which my eyes had observed that late September day near the Stillwater Resevoir.








This was taken in the Adirondack Mountains, in summertime. You can take a hike and sit on an isolated beach and meditate all day if you want. The Adirondacks are filled with these gorgeous spots.










These Four photos:
1. A cute-looking deer I came across on a hike in the Adirondack Mountains (which, in a creepy way, hissed at me immediately after I took the photo and caused me to move along rather quickly).
2. Sunset, Oswego, NY (Lake Ontario)
3. Taughannock Falls near Ithaca, N.Y.

* Legend has it that Chief Taughannock and his band of Delaware indians raided the Iroquois tribes in this area (Cayuga & Seneca), but were defeated and most of the Delawares who did survive were adopted by their captors. One of these braves fell in love with White Lily, a Cayuga maiden. One dark night the the brave and White Lily fled toward the Delaware's canoe on the shore of Cayuga Lake. Being chased by the Cayuga braves, the entire village was alerted and joined in the chase. Running through the pine forest the couple knew they would not make the crossing at the creek above the falls. Chosing death over the torture that would be inflicted on the brave per the Iroquois code, they stood on the edge of the falls, embraced, and leapt. Since it was dark, the villagers returned to the in the morning to gather the remains for burial. But when they returned, they could not find the brave and maiden. It was said that the Great Spirit was aware of the young couple's love and he opened the "door" high on the side of the ravine. When they jumped he ushered them through the secret passageway and closed the door tightly behind them.

4. My father, fishing in the ocean, Brewster, Mass, Cape Cod








The Adirondack Mountains in the Fall - You'll notice I use the Adirondacks for my photographic subject quite often. I think it's one of the most beautiful places on Earth. This photo was taken at the Nature Center at Newcomb, N.Y. I literally ran into a black bear while hiking there one August evening. Newcomb is the site of a Teddy Roosevelt festival each September. Teddy Roosevelt spent many vacations as a young lad in the Adirondacks. While staying at the Tahawus Club, located in the township of Newcomb, and hunting on Mount Marcy, Guide Harrison Hall climbed Mount Marcy to inform TR that President McKinley was near death. En route from Tahawus to the North Creek train station, TR became president of the United States, upon the death of McKinley.




_



Next Two Photos, which are side by side:
1. A scene from a Shaker's settlement at Sabbathday Lake, Maine (near Poland Spring - and before you ask, the answer is "no," there is no tourist stop for any particular spring where the Poland Spring Company draws its water. I know because I went in search myself). A lovely recording of Shaker hymns was made by the Boston Camerata at Sabbathday Lake.

2. The sky - in all its glory. Taken in Sedona, Az.










Feet: There is nothing that feels better than dipping your toes into the ocean. I took this photo of Robert's feet on Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod, Mass.





Oak Creek Canyon, Az

Clueless in Iraq

Clueless in Iraq

Oh - - - oh - - this is just great. Now what the hell do we do?

This sounds like a Daily Show skit..
The problem is..it's for real!

This sounds like a Daily Show skit. The problem is...it's for real!

~~~~~~~~~~

"Get down and clear your own weapon!" Cpl. William Kozlowski shouted to Zwayid in English.

Zwayid answered in Arabic. "That's my weapon," he explained, pointing to his friend.

"Corporal, you're a leader!" Kozlowski shouted back. "Take charge!"

Zwayid smiled at him. "What's he saying to me?" he whispered

~~~~~~

Seriously, I'm getting angrier by the moment. I hear tougher-talking Democrats, like Joe Biden, say that Bush's rhetoric is right but the plan is wrong. Yet, no legislator, Republican or Democrat, can come up with a realistic or convincing strategy to pull that "right" rhetoric out of Bushworld and into reality. The Military recruitment is suffering and it won't be long before our government is drafting our children into a service that serves no productive purpose because there is no plan to win.

Most disappointing is Congressman Charlie Rangel, who is pushing a draft because he believes it's the right thing to do while, at the same time, he's comparing the Iraq war to the Holocaust. What about that "disconnect?" Rangel cannot see what he's doing, which is, in effect, creating the path of least resistance for the neocons who want warm bodies to finish Iraq and invade Syria and Iran.

Look at Iraq! The rubble, the carnage, the failure. If we've made a mistake, we'd best find a plan to rectify it before we break our Military's backbone and destroy American families who lose drafted sons and daughters to a war planned by civilian idiots.

UPDATE - From the Boston Globe, Sat. June 11:

"Faced with plummeting public support for the war in Iraq, a growing number of members of Congress from both parties are reevaluating the reasons for the invasion and demanding the Bush administration produce a plan for withdrawing US troops. A bipartisan group of House members is drafting a resolution that calls on the administration to present a strategy for getting the United States out of Iraq, reflecting an increasing restlessness about the war in a chamber that 2 1/2 years ago voted overwhelmingly to support the use of force in Iraq."

Kansas.com June 12 - Military action won't end insurgency, growing number of U.S. officers believe